BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
Boston Public Library
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PART I -FENWAY Project Completion Report
submitted August 31, 1984 to
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Uteary
Boston Landmarks Commission
Boston Redevelopment Authority
COVER PHOTO: Fenway, 1923
Courtesy of The Bostonian Society
FENWAY PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT
Prepared by
Rosalind Pollan
Carol Kennedy
Edward Gordon
for
THE BOSTON LANDMARKS COMMISSION
AUGUST 1984
PART ONE - PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT
(contained in this volume)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
Brief history of The Fenway
Review of Architectural Styles
Notable Areas of Development and Sub Area Maps
II. METHODOLOGY
General Procedures
Evaluation - Recording
Research
III. RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Districts
National Register of Historic Places
Boston Landmark Districts
Architectural Conservation Districts
B. Individual Properties
National Register Listing
Boston Landmark Designation
Further Study Areas
Appendix I - Sample Inventory Forms
Appendix II - Key to IOC Scale Inventory Maps
Appendix III - Inventory Coding System
Map I - Fenway Study Area
Map II - Sub Areas
Map III - District Recommendations
Map IV - Individual Site Recommendations
Map V - Sites for Further Study
PART TWO - FENWAY INVENTORY FORMS
(see separate volume)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. METHODOLOGY
General Procedures
Evaluation - Recording
Research
III. BUILDING INFORMATION FORMS
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I. INTRODUCTION
The Fenway Preservation Study, conducted from September 1983 to July
1984, was administered by the Boston Landmarks Commission, with the assistance
of a matching grant-in-aid from the Department of the Interior, National Park
Service, through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Office of the
Secretary of State, Michael J. Connelly, Chairman, under the provisions of the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.* The local share of the project
was provided by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the City of Boston
Environment Department and Historic Boston, Incorporated. The study was
conducted by Rosalind Pollan, Carol Kennedy and Edward Gordon, architectural
historians and consultants to the Boston Landmarks Commission. Staff
supervision was provided by Judith McDonough, Director of Survey and Planning.
The goal of the project was to undertake an in-depth architectural and
historical survey of the Fenway study area and to make recommendations for
National Register and Boston City Landmarks designations. Specific goals
included preparation of individual information forms for certain selected
buildings of architectural or historic significance, as well as evaluating the
relative significance of each building for which a form was prepared.
The method of recording and evaluating buildings, as explained in the
Methodology section, follows the pattern established in the previous phases of
the Comprehensive Boston Preservation Study conducted by the Boston Landmarks
Commission and begun in 1977.
The boundaries of the 1983-4 Fenway Study Area are shown on Map 1.
*However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or
policies of the Department of the Interior, or the Massachusetts Historical
Commission, nor does the mention of trade names of commercial products
constitute endorsement of recommendation by the Department of the Interior, or
the Massachusetts Historical Commission."
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FENWAY*
Originally, the Fenway was made up of unfilled Charles River Basin flats
with the Muddy River weaving in an out of the region. In addition, this area
encompassed two former peninsulas: Gravelly Point (site of the present day
Christian Science Church Complex, extending west to the Back Bay Fens) and
Sewalls Point (projecting from Brookline, including what is now Kenmore Square
and Audubon Circle) .
Between 1818 and 1821, Uriah Cotting and the Boston and Roxbury Mill
Corporation built two dams dividing the Charles River Basin at this point, and
channelled the power source for mill sites that were then to be located along
Gravelly Point. The milling operation existed for about thirty years until
developing residential land use made the flood basin an unacceptable neighbor.
The area to the west of Gravelly Point and the cross dam was made up of
the uninhabitable marshes of the Muddy River and acted as a sewage collector.
The railway lines running through the Basin exacerbated the problem of
standing water and forced the need for filling the region.
The mill was shut down in the late 1850' s. Landfill commenced from
Arlington Street, and progressed steadily westward, with the City always
realizing substantial profits from sales of fill rights. Landowners in the
Gravelly Point area and to the south, on what is now Massachusetts Avenue,
expected that in due time their land would be contiguous with the emerging
Back Bay residential neighborhood. When the Back Bay grid was conceived and
laid out, it was assumed that the street pattern would eventually grow to
adjoin Brookline. However, the many railroad tracks built across the Basin at
the time of the Back Bay landfill impeded this growth.
With the South End landfill project completed and the Back Bay growing
steadily westward toward Gravelly Point, the city officials, in 1875, created
*This section is largely taken from the Fenway/Boylston Street District
National Register Nomination form.
a three-man Park. Commission to develop a park, system for the city and to solve
the problem of the drainage of the Full Basin. The Fens area at this time
represented the boundary between Boston and Brookline. Not only did it drain
these areas, but it drained Roxbury and Dorchester as well. The Muddy River
and Stony Brook emptied into the Marsh before moving to the Charles River
tidal basin.
In 1878, the Park Commission asked Frederick Law Olmsted to review
various proposals that had been developed to solve the problems created by the
marshy, odorous site. Olmsted rejected the proposals, believing they failed
both to solve the drainage problem and to create a public park. His own
solution for the area he was to name the "Back Bay Fens" did both. From 1879
to 1893, the tidal gates were constructed, a sewage interceptor buried in the
Boston side of the Fens basin to provide run-off for Stony Brook, the path of
the Muddy River altered, and the land filled in around the conduit and subtly
and naturalistically reshaped to create a public park. The Back Bay Fens
became a jewel in the coordinated park system envisioned by Olmsted.
In the 1895 Boston Park Guide, Sylvester Baxter described the Fens as
"primarily an engineering work designed to effect a drainage and sanitation
improvement". He continued.
To give the desirable landscape aspect to the scene, a strikingly
original but beautifully simple design was adopted, in simulation of the
characteristic salt-marsb scenery of the New England Coast — a brackish
creek, meandering amidst fens with bosky banks. This landscape was ...
so natural ... so resemblant to the scenes that once existed in the near
neighborhood, that it gives the impression that, by some fortunate
accident, a typical landscape of this character had been preserved for
its exceptional charm in the midst of the city growing up around it. 1
The westward movement of the growing city brought new buildings to the
area. Following the great fire of 1872, many of the institutions once located
in downtown Boston began to look to this new Fens area for accomodation. Land
was sold at public auction to developers and. speculators and turned into the
East and West Fens, largely consisting of adjoining apartment or hotel
complexes. The present day Hemenway Street, is on the site of the Cross Dam
built across the Full Basin of Back Bay in 1818. The street (projected as an
avenue to the Brookline town line as early as 1855) was built in 1878, as was
Westland Avenue. In 1879, according to Olmsted's plan for the Back Bay Fens,
The Fenway was designed as a raised roadway to skirt the eastern edge of the
Fens. Hitchcock refers to its as, "the first parkway approach to an American
city." 2 Westland Avenue was proposed as a major entrance to the park. In
1888, Boylston Street was extended from Exeter Street to The Fenway.
By the late 1880' s, there were numerous horsecar railroad lines
travelling within the Fenway /Kenmo re area. Almost all these transportation
lines merged into the West End Street Railway Company in 1887, and by 1889 it
began their first electric car line opera-ting between Boston and Brookline.
The West End Street Railway's electric car service triggered residential
development in the Audubon Circle area beginning c. 1888 and continuing until
1915. Beacon Street had been laid out as a 50' wide country road as early as
1851. It ran from Harvard Street, Brookline to the Mill Dam. The Audubon
Circle area was annexed from Brookline by Boston in 1870. In 1886-1887,
Beacon Street, from the Boston and Albany railroad tracks to Cleveland Circle
was transformed into a 160' "model French Boulevard" by Frederick Law
Olmsted. The 260' in diameter Audubon (originally Burlington) Circle was
linked to the Back Bay Fens via Park Drive (originally Audubon Road). Henry
M. Whitney, West End Street Railway Co. president, envisioned Audubon Circle
and vicinity as an extension of the fashionable Back Bay residential
district. During the 1890' s and early 1900 's Beacon Street and Audubon Circle
became lined with townhouses that came close to matching the design quality
and craftsmanship of Back Bay housing.
By 1892, residents near the Fens could travel to and from downtown Boston via
lines on the principal streets including one on Boylston Street from Park
Street to Massachusetts Avenue. During the early 1890' s'Kenmore Square was
4"
initially developed with rowhouses. Two grass covered, ornamented triangular
lots were planned for the center of the square but were apparently never
implemented. As early as the 1860's the Kenmore Square area was partially
laid out from Charlesgate West to St. Mary's Street. Beacon Street in 1860
continued across the Mill Dam as far as Brookline. This was followed in 1861
by Brookline Avenue extending from what is now Kenmore Square to the Muddy
River at its Brookline boundary. In 1868, Commonwealth Avenue (originally
Brighton Road) reached from Kenmore Square to Brighton, and by 1881, reached
Brookline.
It should be noted that, in the East Fens unique market pressures were
brought to bear on the newly created land due to its proximity to both the
Back Bay (NR 1975, LHD 1966) and the South End (NR 1973, LHD 1984). As the
reputation of the Back Bay was ascending with each new block of fine houses,
the neighborhood directly south of the Fens — the South End — declined. The
so-called flight from the South End was hastended by unscrupulous land
speculators, a credit crunch, and a financial panic. What had started in the
1840 's as the city's newest fashionable district was, by the 1890' s, a
hodgepodge use of roominghouses and tenements.
CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Sandwiched between the Back Bay and the South End, the Fens region
reflected the primarily residential land use of both neighborhoods but was
unique in drawing many cultural and educational institutions seeking room for
expansion in new locations on undeveloped land. Once the Harvard Bridge to
Cambridge, now known as the Massachusetts Avenue bridge, was completed in 1891
and brought cross-town traffic through the area, the lots on Massachusetts and
Huntington Avenues were quickly developed. The Christian Science Church was
built in 1894, and many institutions soon followed. Two of the earliest
institutions in the new area located in The Fenway /Boylston Street District.
The Massachusetts Historical Society moved in 1897 from Tremont Street to
the corner of Boylston Street and The Fenway, land they had purchased in
1892. Swiftly following was the Boston Medical Library which built on
neighboring lots and opened in 1900. Members stated the site was, "the only
one worthy of the dignity of the profession, and that a handsome building
there will bring us notice, money and reputation." 3 -
Other important cultural institutions which built in the East Fens during
the 1890' s and 1910* s include Horticultural Hall (1903), New England
Conservatory of Music (1903), Symphony Hall (1899-1900) and the Museum of Fine
Arts (1907-8).
LONGWOOD/FENWAY AREA
The Longwood /Fenway section, to the southwest of the Back Bay Fens, was
another important hub of institutional construction activity during the 1890' s
and 1910' s — particularly as a center for medical facilities. This area,
too, was originally made up of the Muddy River, Stony Brook and marshes. By
1832, Francis and Parker Street and Brookline Avenue were laid out, and in
1861, Longwood Avenue extended from what is now the Riverway to Parker
Street. In 1873, one could see the water of Stony Brook right up to Longwood
Avenue and Pater Street. The Sewall and Day Cordage Company and the Boston
Waterpower Company had their works here and the area was covered with rope
walks and dams. With the filling of the Fens, development of the area quickly
started.
Isabella Gardner began construction of her museum in 1899 and it
officially opened to the public in 1903. Other institutions followed suit.
Harvard Medical College constructed five new marble buildings on Longwood
Avenue in 1906. The college originally purchased 26 acres of land but only
used eleven acres for the medical school. They subsequently sold the
remaining fifteen acres to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1912) and
Children's Hospital (1914), so that these hospitals might be close to the
medical school buildings and to be used for clinical teaching in affiliation
with the school. This "revolutionary" idea obviously caught on as many
medical institutions followed these innovators into the area. (Harvard
Medical College now includes the Harvard Dental School, the School of Public
Health and Vanderbilt Hall.)
Other medical institutions as well as colleges have since settled in the
Fenway: Angell Memorial Animal Hospital (until recently), Beth Israel Hospital
(1928), The New England Deaconess Hospital (1896), The House of Good
Samaritan, Simmons College, Emmanuel College, English High School and Boston
Latin High School.
The most recently developed section of the Fenway Survey area is the West
Fens. However, as early as the 1880' s, Park Drive (formerly Auburn Road) was
laid out as part of Olmsted's Park Drive during late 1890 's - early 1900 's in
anticipation of substantial row house development similar to that of the
Fenway, on the eastern side of the Back Bay Fens. Residential development of
this scale did not predominate in the West Fens. Rather, opened land proved
more speculative to land developers, who raised four and five story apartment
buildings. The section south of Boylston St. was almost entirely developed
with fairly large adjoining apartment complexes oriented to the Back Bay Fens
and very similar in style to the apartment structure on the opposite side of
the Fens. North of Boylston St. (to the railroad tracks), the area housed
commercial and light industrial facilities as well as a riding school (1900),
Boston's Fenway Park (1912) and the huge Sears Roebuck and Company store at
the comer of Brookline Ave. and Park Drive (1928).
The Fenway area continues to encompass many diverse neighborhoods.
Although this area Is characterized primarily by residential buildings. The
Fenway is also a major center for the cultural, medical and educational
institutions. The original residential character of certain sections, e.g.
Massachusetts Ave. and Kenmore Square have been altered to acomodate
commercial concerns, colleges and universities. This is particulaly the case
in the Kenmore Square area with many buildings adapted for use by Boston
University.
REVIEW OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
A. Residential
The Fenway's domestic architecture is composed primarily of single family
row houses dating from as early as 1871 to c. 1910 and large apartment
complexes built from c. 1910-1930. Its residential building stock includes
both modestly scaled speculatively built row houses and substantial, stylish
town houses, representing a variety of materials and styles.
The earliest extant residence in the survey area is an Italianate, gable on
side wall plan frame on Short St. which dates to the 1850 's and is now part of
a Simmons College's residential campus. #4 Short Street exhibits Italianate
and Stick Style elements. Both structures are located in the Longwood /Fenway
sub area.
The mansard style is represented by a modest, extremely plain group of
brick row houses at 220-226 Hemmenway St. (1871). A mansard roof appears as a
curiously retardaire feature of a 1903 Queen Anne and Georgian Revival
detailed townhouse designed by and built for Boston architect Theodore M.
Clarke at 107 Park Drive.
The Queen Anne style was frequently employed in town house architectural
designs throughout the Fenway, usually blended with other styles including
Richardsonian, Romanesque and Georgian Revival. Early examples of the Queen
Anne styles in the survey area include the row house enclave with conically
capped bow fronts at 3-15 Symphony Road, designed and built by David W. Thomas
in 1886. S.D. Kelley designed several well crafted Queen Anne /Romanes que
Revival single family row house groups, including 918-924 Beacon St., near
Audubon Circle (1892). St. Germain St., with its relatively modest Queen Anne/
Romanesque row houses, has been recently renovated in its entirety (e.g. 8-36
and 15-25, 1892-93). Also noteworthy is the Lord and Fuller designed group of
three Queen Anne row houses at 428 Symphony Road (1885-1886). The stylish
townhouses at 52 and 54 The Fenway represent late examples of this style.
Built in 1893, they were designed by Hartwell and Richardson, best known for
their Richardsonian Romanesque design for the first Spiritualist Temple (now
Exeter Street Theater).
The Georgian or Colonial Revival style is by far the best represented
style in the Fenway. Examples range from handsome wood shingle covered, two
family houses on Fenwood Ave In the Longwood section, (e.g. #36 and #40, 1900)
to high style townhouses designed by leading Boston architectural firms. The
Fenway /Boylston St. National Register district bounding the east side of the
Back Bay Fens in particularly rich in Georgian Revival townhouses. Noteable
examples include the Arthur Bowditch designed 28 and 30 The Fenway (1895), an
early work of Albert C. Fernald at 36-38 The Fenway (1894) and the relatively
late Brigham designed 34 The Fenway (1910). The Georgian Revival style was
blended with the Classical Revival style on the curved, buff brick and white
limestone facade at 877 Beacon St. and Audubon Circle. It was designed by S.D,
Kelley in 1895. The impressive sweep of apartment building facades
overlooking the Back Bay Fens at 117 and 121, 125-151 Park Drive (1910' s)
exhibits an appealing melange of Georgian Revival elements. Both sides of
Gainsborough Street in the east Fens are lined with red brick, bow front and
white limestone trimmed row houses. Encompassing 37 buildings, each of these
structures were built to house four units rather than the more standard single
family type.
Like the Georgian Revival, the Federal Revival is well represented by
substantial townhouses along the Fenway. Notable examples include the Robert
S. Peabody designed 24 The Fenway (1900) and 32 The Fenway, designed by Dabney
and Hayward in 1899.
The Beaux Arts style was utilized for early 20th century apartment
buildings. The most notable examples were designed by Fred A. Norcross and
include the five story, tan brick apartment house at 114 The Fenway
(1912-1913) and the flamboyantly ornamented terra cotta faced 80-84 The Fenway
(1914).
Renaissance Revival motifs and elements are featured on a well detailed
brownstone townhouse at 875 Beacon St. (1895) and the Arthur Bowditch designed
six family apartment buildings at 465 Park Drive (1897).
Much of Audubon Circle's charm is derived from the presence of Jacobethan
residences along its edges. The group of red brick row houses at 899-909
Beacon St. at the southwestern side of Audubon Circle are characterized by
octagonal bays, flemish gables and a modified octagonal conically capped tower
at the intersection of Beacon St. and Park Drive (early 1900' s). In addition
the concave main facade of Kilham and Hopkins' Jacobethan three family
apartment of c. 1905 echoes the curved edge of Audubon Circle. Just to the
orth of Audubon Circle, at 516-522 Park Drive is a large u - shaped apartment
complex known as Audubon Court which was built in 1915. The Jacobethan style,
also along with the ubiquitous Georgian Revival style, is evident at the red
brick and white terra cotta fronted Stuart and Summer apartment complexes at
31-45 and 36-46 Petersbo rough St. (1915).
Although Classical Revival designs were more frequently used for
institutional buildings in The Fenway, residential examples of their style
appear throughout the survey area. ' The Robert Peabody designed townhouse at
26 The Fenway, is an interesting severely classical building (1902-1903). The
Classical Revival is effectively blended with the Georgian Revival at 877
Beacon St., a buff brick and white limestone fronted townhouse with a curved
facade (1895). Large Classical Revival apartment complexes were built in the
east and west Fens during the 1910 's and 1920' s. Particularly noteworthy is
Silverman Brown and Hienan's 111 Park Drive (1922) with its monumental
Corinthian entrance porch. George N. Jacobs designed the multi-unit apartment
buildings at 61-69 Park Drive (1922). These these buildings feature
attractive corintian columned entrances.
Six large apartment buildings with vaguely Mediterranean characteristics
appear at 12-34 Medfield St., near Audubon Circle. Built during the 1910's,
these buildings feature planar, white painted brick surfaces, wrought iron
balconies and red tile roofs.
B. Non-Residential
Churches
Generally, the Gothic Revival is the predominant ecclesiastical style in
most Boston neighborhoods. The Fenway's churches, however, embrace a variety
10
of architectural modes ranging from the Romanesque, Charles Bateman designed
St. Cecilias Roman Catholic Church (1889-1892) to the Modern Gothic St.
Clement Church at 1103 Boylston St., designed by Allen and Collins in
1923-1924. Frank I. Bemis designed the original First Church of Christ
Scientist in the Romanesque style in 1893-1894. The Christian Science complex
also features the huge domed Renaissance Revival church extention, designed by
Charles Brigham with S.S; Bemis (1904-1906).- The prominent late 19th century
Boston architectural firm of Rotch and Tilden was responsible for the
Victorian Gothic St. Ann's Catholic Church at 77 St. Stephens St.
(1890-1892). Also noteworthy is James Purden's severly Neoclassical Revival
church of the Disciples (now the Seventh Day Adventist Church and School)
which was built in 1905. The Second Church in Boston or the Ruggles St.
Church (together with its Parish House) was designed in 1914 in the Georgian
Revival style by the preeminent early 20th century Modern Gothic Specialist
Ralph Adam Cram (874-876 Beacon -St. at Audubon Circle). Boston theatre
architect Clarence H. Blackall designed the marble faced Temple Israel
(presently Boston University's Morse Auditorium) in 1905 at 612 Columbus Ave.
C, Municipal
The former Fire Engine House No. 3 at 477 Brookline Ave. was built in the
Panel brick style in 1873-1875 and has been drastically altered. The Back Bay
Fens encompasses several interesting municipal structures including the early
1880' s and c. 1905 gate houses on the Fenway, opposite Forsyth Way. These
rustic, Roxbury Pudding Stone constructed buildings were designed by H.H.
Richardson and Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, his successor firm. The
Neoclassical Fire Alarm Headquarters Building on the Fenway, opposite the
Westland Ave. entrance was designed in the Venetian Renaissance style during
the mid-late 1920' s by William Austen and landscape architect Arthur
Shurcliffe. ■
D. Schools
Noteworthy Fenway schools include the Georgian Revival Farragut School
(1903) in the Longwood section and a late example of the same style at
11
85 Peterborough St. (1929, George Robinson). The same style was used for the
Boston Public Latin School on Ave. Louis Pasteur (1922; James E. McLaughlin).
The Getting School for Handicapped Ghildren was designed by the prominent
Boston architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns in 1903. Architectural firms
responsible for the Beaux Arts former Girls' Latin and Normal Schools (now
Roxbury Community College) at Palace Rd., Tetlow St., and Huntington Ave. were
Peabody and Stearns; Maginnis, Walsh, and Sullivan; and Coolidge and Carlson
(1906-1907). The Winsor School at 103 Pilgrim Rd. exhibits Modern Gothic
elements in its design by R, Clipston Sturgis (1909-1910).
E. Institutional Architecture
The Fenway survey area possesses an unusually rich collection of cultural
institutions with a large concentration of cultural institutions in the East
Fens. Medical and College buildings are located primarily in the Longwood
/Fenway subarea. By far the Classical Revival style is the predominant
institutional style.
Cultural Institutions include the Guy Lowell designed Boston Museum of
Fine Arts (1907-1908), the McKim, Mead and White designed Symphony Hall
(1899-1900) and the Wheelwright and Haven designed Georgian Beaux Arts
Horticultural Hall (1900-1903). Edwin Marsh Wheelwright was responsible for
the handsome buff brick Massachusetts Historical Society at 1154 Boylston St.
(1897-1899), W.T. Sears designed Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian
Rennaisance fantasy, Fenway Court in 1900. The Boston Conservatory of Music
was designed in the Renaisance Revival style by Wheelwright and Haven in
1901. The Tapestry Brick YMCA at 312-320 Huntington Ave., was designed by
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in 1911.
The Forsyth Dental Center echoes the nearby Museum of Fine Arts Classical
Revival style. It was designed by Edward T.P. Graham in 1912-1914. Further
to the west in the Longwood subarea noteworthy medical facilities include the
original Harvard Medical School building, designed in the Classical Revival
style in 1906 by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, the original Peter Bent Brigham
Hospital building (Codman and Despradelle, 1913) and the old Coolidge and
Shattuck designed Boston Lying In Hospital building is still extant at 300
Longwood Ave (1921).
12
College buildings worth noting include several Simmons College buildings
including Peabody and Stearns' Administration building (1901), and a Guy
Lowell designed dormitory at 312 Brookline Ave (1905). Maginnis and Walsh
designed Emmanuel College's main building in 1913. The only state supported
autonomous art school in the nation is the Massachusetts College of Art, a
Modern Gothic and Art Deco building which dates to late 1928.
F. Commercial
Few noteworthy commercial srtuctures are located within the primarily
residential and institutional survey area. By the 1920' s a number of
residential buildings were beginning to be converted for commercial use,
particularly in the Kenmore Square area. Solid example of this type Include
the Classical Revival Building at 78-88 Brookline Ave. (1916), the cast stone,
concrete and brick former Shawmut Bank branch building at 540-548 Commonwealth
Ave. (c.1925) and the Andrews Jacque and Rantoul designed Peerless Motor Car
Company buildings at 648-660 Beacon St., Kenmore Square (1910-1916).
G. Special Use Structures
Intriguing special use structures Include several riding club/schools
e.g. the Jacobethan New Riding Club designed by William T. Sears in 1891-1892
on Hemmenway St. and The Riding School designed in the Queen Anne style by
Wheelwright and Haven in 1900. Also noteworthy is the Renaissance Revival
Edison Electric Illuminating Co. -Transformer Station at 863 Beacon St. (1916,
Bigelow and Wetherell) and the huge Art Deco Sears Roebuck and Company mail
order house building and offices at 309 Park Drive (1928). Fenway Park
(1912), with some later additions, remains intact as an early example of a
baseball park.
H. Montunents
Several fine examples of early 20th century civic sculpture/architecture
are located in and adjacent to the Back Bay Fens. Notable examples Include
Daniel Chester French's bronze sculptural figure on the John Boyle O'Reilly
monument and the John Endicott statue by sculptor Paul Jannewein on Forsyth
Way and the Fenway. The architectural setting of the O'Reilly monument was
designed by C. Howard Walker, and that of the Endicott monument by Ralph Weld
Gray (1937).
13
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NOTABLE AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT
The Back Bay Fens
(This section taken from Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report on the Back
Bay Fens)
On Wednesday evening, June 7, 1876, Boston citizens gathered at Faneuil
Hall to endorse the recommendations of the Park Coiranissioners, contained in a
report released on April 24, 1876, for a system of parks in Boston. Most of
the attention focused upon the health factors of open space. Dr. Edward Clark
addressed the gathering on the
"sanitary aspect of the park . . . Let us not forget that a park laid
out in accordance with the plan of the Park Commissioners will
utilize localities that would otherwise become plague spots ...
Portions of the Back Bay . . . are sure to become unhealthy localities
unless they are preserved and left unoccupied."
Landowners and speculators, realizing that the continued development of
the Back Bay would be sjmied without a solution to the Fens problem, lobbied
long and hard in the City Council to pass a bill authorizing funds for the
park. This was done in 1877.
In deference to local political opinion, a competition was held for
plans. Frederick Law Olmsted declined to submit or to judge the entries. He
wrote,
"No aid I could give in the selection of a plan to receive your
premium would materially lessen either class of objections to the
competition, which I have indicated. Advising your choice I should
place myself in a leaky boat with you. Keeping out of it I retain a
professional position in which it is possible I may yet be of
service to you."*
Although a $500.00 prize was awarded to Hermann Grundel, his plan was
inappropriate. Even though the Boston park commissioners had requested a park
for the Back Bay they needed, instead, a solution for Stony Brook flood
waters. They asked Olmsted to prepare a plan. Olmsted accepted this
engineering problem as the dictating factor in his design and declared that
his undertaking not be aimed at anything with the slightest resemblance to an
urban park.
* Olmsted to Dalton, May 13, 1878, Olmsted Papers, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
14
Olmsted's design was primarily a sanitary improvement, the main feature
of which was a storage basin for the storm waters of Stony Brook. A second
aim was to restore the salt marsh to its original condition, (from Zaitzevsky,
Cynthia. Frederick Law Olmsted and the Boston Park System. Harvard
University Press, Cambridge. 1982. p. 57.)
Intercepting sewers were to be constructed, the Muddy River would be diverted
to the Charles by a conduit, and the ordinary flow of Stony Brook carried out
by a similar conduit. The flow of salt water in and out of the 30 acre basin
was to be carefully regulated. During times of flood, approximately twenty
additional acres could be covered with water.* Olmsted created a salt creek,
bordered by salt marshes, and enclosed by high banks. The banks were covered
with wild flowers, compact shrubs and vines, grasses and trees that thrived on
salt water.
Olmsted met with many problems while building the park. The most serious
was the small size of the site. Of the 100 acres, purchased at $450,000.,
half was committed to the basin. Only 50 acres could be used for recreational
purposes. Along this land Olmsted developed the major parkway of the system,
now the Fenway, parallel to a bridle path. "Several city streets had to
traverse the park, necessitating the construction of several bridges."*
An engineer of the Park Commission, Thomas Doane, had superintended the
filling in and laying out of the border roads around the Fens site.
Consequently, through no fault of Olmsted's, the Fenway roads lack attractive
views of the park.
The third major problem Olmsted faced was the size of the conduit needed
to carry Stony Brook overflow directly to the Charles River. Due to the
expense of such a large conduit, a smaller one was decided upon by the City
engineer. Olmsted compensated by making the Fens basin two feet lower than
usual.
The Back Bay Fens was simple by design, a passive park made up of
walkways and a bridle path. Traffic lanes were segregated by slight grade
changes and plantings. Architecture was kept to a minimum and what exists is
low key.
Agassiz Bridge was deliberately kept low to provide a long view of the
park, and Fenbridge is tucked into the banks of Park Drive and planted so
15
closely as to be nearly invisible. Even the enormous Boylston Street Bridge
never intrudes in the park because of its undulating surface, exact
proportions to the land around it, and earth tone granite 'facing. The
bridge's great arch was carefully designed to be a window on the Fens' from
Commonwealth Avenue, inviting visitors into the park. All three original
bridges are barely noticeable on the roadways and appear to be part of the
landscape from the park. The gatehouses are heavily planted to also be as
unobtrusive as possible.
All formal elements were kept to the edges of the park — especially the
four entranceways . Reaching out like arms from the main body of the park,
these entranceways connect the park with main public roadways: Hungington
Ave., Massachusetts Ave., and Brookline Ave. Olmsted always urged that main
public roadways be the boundaries of his parks to provide easy access by as
many people as possible. In the Fens the high price of land made this
impossible so, in a clever way, Olmsted extended the park out to the
thoroughfares by short ribbons of parkland.
The Tremont Entrance, today called Evans Way, adjoins the Gardner
Museum. It was originally planned as the beginning of the parkway system. A
parkway was designed to extend over Parker Hill through a planned park on that
elevation and down to Jamaica Pond. Expensive land prices scuttled the plan.
On December 30, 1887, the Boston Park Commission voted on a continuous parkway
from the Fens to Franklin Park using the Muddy River Valley. The Tremont
Entrance was completed as planned in 1893 to Huntington Ave. It served as an
entrance from Tremont St. and the Mission Hill neighborhood.
The Muddy River, with its polluted water and flooding, brought as many
problems to Brookline as Stony Brook did to Boston. As a solution to their
common troubles, Brookline and Boston collaborated on the Riverway and
Leverett Park. The project was made possible by the Brookline Park Commission
Chairman, Charles Sprague Sargent.
Sargent, who was the first director of the Arnold Arboretum, and served
in this capacity for over fifty years, was also a friend and neighbor of
F.L. Olmsted. Upon assuming the newly formed position of chairman of the
Brookline Park Commission in 1830, Sargent turned to Olmsted to solve the
16
Muddy River problem. Olmsted submitted his first plan in 1882 and $40,000 was
appropriated to begin land taking. Over the next seven years, sufficient land
was purchased and the boundairy line between Brookline and Boston was redrawn
to go down the middle of the new waterway. A revised plan was submitted,
based on the actural amount of land purchased, the the Town of Brookline on
Jamuary 28, 1890. Work commenced in the spring of 1890,
The original Muddy River Channel was completely rebuilt from the
meandering stream it once was. An 1873 Boston Atlas shows the Muddy River
once winding through what is today Temple Israel, Wheelock College and Simmons
College, and exiting to the Charles River through present-day Queens bury
Street.
In February, 1886, Stony Brook flooded 63 acres of lower Roxbury causing
extensive damage and posing serious health problems. The flooding proved that
the old Stony Brook Conduit of 1881 was far too small.
In 1887 a twelve by twelve foot channel was built, going directly from
Roxbury Crossing to the Back Bay Fens. The sold purpose for this channel was
the prevention of upstream flooding and no provision was made for foul flow.
The work at the Fens was completed in 1889.
The widening and extension of Columbus Avenue and the extensive
rebuilding of the Boston and Providence Railroad, beginning in the mid 1890' s,
spurred more action to sufficiently control Stony Brook. In 1896, work began
on a newer and much larger conduit in lower Roxbury called the Commissioners
Channel. The conduit stopped at Huntington Avenue in 1897 since flood control
was still the primary concern. Pollution of the Fens from sewage in the
channel became a serious problem for the Park Department and dredging was
carried out in 1898. The sludge deposits and the odor from the Fens prompted
more action and finally in September of 1903, a foul flow channel was begun
from Huntington Avenue to the Charles River. This was an extension of the
1897 Commissioners Channel. A new gatehouse was built in 1904 to control foul
flow and the original Richardson gatehouse was moved under a new substructure
17
with wider gates. Unfortunately the state legislature vetoed a plan for a
separate system for foul and clean water flow and for a larger foul flow
channel; the state wanted to keep the Harbor water as pure as possible. As a
result only a seven by seven foot foul flow channel was built under the new
gatehouse, despite objections by the chief engineer of the Sewer Division.
The project took five years and caused the digging of vast trenches down
Huntington Avenue Entrance and out the Charles River. Over 100,000 cubic
yards of sludge was dug out of the Fens by the Park Department using a unique
hydraulic barge which carried the waste out to sea. Failure to build a
segregated sewer system in 1904 has resulted in sanitary problems for the
Fens.
Misuse and overloading had caused problems almost from the beginning for
the tide and flood control system carefully worked out by Olmsted and the city
engineer. When the Charles River dam was completed in 1910, the water flowing
into the Fens from the Charles was fresh instead of salt, thus rendering the
entire design obsolete. The dam kept the Charles River Basin at a constant
level of fresh water and the tides no longer washed up the Fens and filled in
the marshes. The marshes were no longer needed and soon the salt water
grasses, trees, and shrubs began to die out. As the marshes were filled in,
fresh water plantations were added, although original willows can still be
seen.
The three large marshes in the southern half of the Fens, just below
Agassiz Road, were filled in stages, just prior to and after the First World
War. An athletic field was filled in 1912 on the site of the present Roberto
Clemente Field and landscaped between 1925 and 1928.
The Western side of the parkland, or, as Olmsted referred to the banks of
the marshland, the Fenside, has been changed beyond recognition from its
original appearance.
In 1911 the eleven acre site of the present Victory Gardens began to be
filled in order to build a recreation field.- As money became available during
18
the teens of the 20th century, the flats were filled in by the Park
Department, shaping the land mass which is more or less evident today. The
Back Bay Fens was completed in 1893 at a cost of $18,000,000. However, in the
years that followed many changes took place, leaving behind little of
Olmsted's original design.
In 1904, Harvard Medical School chose a site on Longwood Avenue for its
new school and it proposed a realignment of the roadway to the Fens to
accomodate the site. This was agreed upon by the Park Department and the City
Street Department. The aptly named Avenue Louis Pasteur was built in 1906.
Other changes were more disruptive. The actual site of the infamous
Sears parking lot was a lovely lagoon crossed by a handsome stone bridge which
carried the parkway to Park Drive. Both bridge and lagoon were plowed under
in 1958-1959.
The construction of Boston State College's new building (in 1984 the
Massachusetts College of Art building) blocks forever the Tremont Street/
Mission Hill connection and isolates the entranceway into an island.
Moreover, the enormous height of the Boston State building is a visual
intrusion and ruins an otherwise fine view from the Boylston Street Bridge of
unobstructed greenspace.
The largest intrusion into the Back Bay Fens was the Bowker Overpass,
connecting the Fens with Storrow Drive. The Bowker construction amputated the
Boylston Street Bridge, obliterating the original Olmsted landscaping of
Charlesgate. Bowker Bridge construction also destroyed the wall of a metal
bridge which carried Audubon Road (now Park Drive) over the Boston and Albany
Railroad. This bridge had been built in 1893 from Richardson's plans of a
decade earlier. Olmsted himself requested the plate girder deck bridge over
the railroad and Richardson designed it in crisp, clean lines with only slight
ornamentation. The metal truss bridge was essentially a wide break in the
stone wall which continued the sweep of the Boylston Street Bridge around to
Commonwealth Avenue, almost to the Hotel Somerset. The railroad bridge was
demolished in 1964 for the Massachusetts Turnpike extension. All that remains
today is the massive central masonry support.
19
In 1982 major changes were again introduced to the Back Bay Fens:
- Agassiz Road was narrowed and a new curb and sidewalk installed.
- The rotary at the Westland Avenue Entrance was removed, changing the pattern
of traffic and returning some land to park use.
- The southern portion of The Fenway was narrowed. New walks, curbs and trees
were added.
- The Boylston Street intersection was entirely rebuilt. In addition to the
relocation of the John Boyle O'Reilly statue, new walks were installed and The
Fenway widened.
- Boylston Street has also been widened, the median strip removed and a new
traffic pattern to the Bowker Overpass put into effect.
- At Fenway West a residential parking lane was created out of the west lane
of the 1925 roadway. Park land was added at the gas station, at the corner of
Boylston Street and The Fenway.
- Residential parking was also added in the Fenway Southwest section. Here a
grade change of traffic lanes also occurred.
The Back Bay Fens as City Planning
One of the main groups lobbying for the Fens construction was composed of
landowners and speculators wishing to protect their Investment in the Back Bay
development and exploit its grand success. Landowners demanded that boundary
roads, facing private lots, be built by the Parks Department. These roads
insured access to the property which began to be built upon in 1892. Land
values had begun to rise as early as 1882 due to the control of the Stony
Brook and marsh.
Unlike the Back Bay, the Fens could not simply be filled over. The great
flow of wataer from Stony Brook made this impossible. Olmsted's brilliant
solution permitted the growth of Boston around the Fens.
By keeping architecture to a minimum and providing for only passive
recreation the Fens remained a large green for the residential blocks which
surrounded it. Such a layout allowed a maximum number of people to enjoy a
park of minimal space.
20
Boundary roads that reached house lots were segregated by Olmsted into
residential and park roads so that visitors could get the most out of their
park. The several entrances, which reached out like arms to main public
throughways, provided easy access to the park. Without these entrances the
park would have been completely surrounded by private property.
The entranceways became even more utilitarian when streetcar lines began
operating along Huntington Avenue and Brookline Avenue. For years the Park
Commissioners wisely resisted attempts to put a streetcar line through the
park along Boylston Street. This issue was resolved with the construction of
the Boylston Street subway in 1912. This line goes under the watercourse at
Charlesgate, midway between Commonwealth Avenue and the Boylston Street
Bridge, and is 100 feet below ground.
Because the Fens is flat Olmsted had to use two design techniques. He
moved Agassiz Road somewhat south of the Westland Avenue entrance to prevent
the Avenue from becoming a high speed throughway bisecting the Fens. He also
placed Boylston Street as far downstream as possible, creating a gentle curve
in the road before it crosses the Bridge.
Development of residential Back Bay insured that the Fens would also
remain residential. The earliest house built in the Fens was a grand
structure near the Westland Avenue Gates: number 48, The Fenway. Constructed
in 1892, it was designed by Arthur Darrell. Number 22 was built by and for
the noted architect and Park Commissioner Robert S. Peabody in 1900. Robert
Treat Paine built a townhouse for himself at number one Queensbury Street at
Park Drive. It was completed in 1901. The building's massive brick circular
bay faces the Agassiz Bridge and makes for one of the most distinctive houses
in the Fens. This western side of the park was developed much later and for
years the Paine house was the only structure on that side.
The Back Bay Fens was so attractive that it invited institutions to build
near it. In 1899, the Massachusetts Historical Society Building, designed by
Edmund M. Wheelwright, was built at 1154 Boylston Street across from the
O'Reilly Memorial.
21
In 1901 the Boston Medical Library was built at nvimber eight The Fenway.
This building is now the Boston Conservatory of Music.
Robert Peabody designed the first building of Simmons College, built in
1902 on a large tract of land near the Gardner Museum; later additions came in
1916. Emmanuel College was built in 1914 across from the Longwood Entrance.
The most famouse house of the Fenway, built in Fenway Court between 1899
and 1903, was Isabella Stewart Gardner's. Interestingly, it was her husband
who urged that they move out of their crowded Beacon Street home to the new
land of the Fenway. After Jack Gardner died in 1898, Mrs. Jack purchased the
corner lot at the Tremont Street entrance. A familiar site from the Fens is
the enormous "Y" formed by brick chimneys on the Fenway facade of the Museum.
When a new fireplace was added to the Raphael Room in 1914, Mrs. Jack had the
masons form the chimneys into the shape of a "Y" which is the first initial of
Isabella in Spanish.
In 1905, negotiations took place between the trustees of the Museum of
Fine Arts and the Park Department for a transfer of park land to the museum.
The trustees wanted a rectangular lot which was made when the Huntington
Avenue Entrance was rebuilt in 1907.
The great institutional crush on the Fens was probably inevitable, given
the vast amount of land now opened for building after the flooding and
pollution problems were solved by Olmsted.
The Back Bay Fens is important for its great influence on the growth of
Boston. The park's significance belies its size. Part of the significance of
the Back Bay Fens is that it is an example of city planning on a par with the
Back Bay plan of Arthur Gilmore. As Louis Mumford wrote in 1969: "It is
impossible to write a history of city design or landscape architecture in the
United States without reference to the Back Bay area."
22
Audubon Circle sub-area
Audubon Circle is the triangular residential area adjacent to Brookline's
eastern boundary. It is bounded by the Boston Railroad Tracks/Massachusetts
Turnpike on the north, the Riverside M.B.T.A. line and Muddy River on the
south, and St. Mary's St. (Boston city line) on the west. This area is
bisected east-west by Beacon St., a- 160' wide extensioa of Beacon Hill and
Back Bay Beacon Streets which terminates at the Chestnut Hill
Reservoir/Cleveland Circle. Audubon Circle (originally Burlington Circle) is
the centerpiece of the district. Measuring 260' in diameter, this "Square" is
enframed by a stylish, harmonious ensemble of primarily red brick single
family row -houses and multi unit buildings dating from 1890-1915. Presiding
over the northeast curve of Audubon Circle in the Ralph Adams Cram designed
red brick Second Church (1914). The church's spire is the area's most highly
visible landmark.
During the 17th and 18th centuries this area was part of Sewalls Point, a
tributary of the Charles River (south) and the Charles River Basin (north,
east) Topographically Sewalls point encompassed salt marsh, cow pasture and a
cedar swamp. Its name refers to the famous diarist Salem witch craft trial
judge, Samuel Sewall. His farm was located to the west of St. Mary's St.
By the early 1820' s Sewall 's Point was more closely linked to Boston via
an extension on Beacon St. which ran from Charles Sreet to Kenmore Square. As
early as 1814 the present route of Auburn Circle - Brookline Beacon St. was
anticipated on Benjamin Dearborn's map of the proposed Mill Barn. By the mid
19th century the Longwood and Cottage Farm Estate in Brookline of David Sears
and Amos Abbott Lawrence, well-to-do Beacon Hill Brahmins included the Audubon
Circle area. During the mid 1830' s, the Boston and Worcester Railroad were
set out along and more clearly defined the northern and southern edge of this
area.
Beacon St., the oldest thoroughfare in the area, was laid out as a 50'
wide country road by 1851. It ran from Harvard Street to the Mill Dam at
23
Keiimore Square. As early as 1866 Henry M. Whitney, an executive in the
Metropolitan Steamship Co., began buying up the farm land bordering Beacon St.
in Audubon Circle/Brookline and later formed a syndicate known as the West End
Land Co., buying on an even larger scale. The Audubon Circle area was annexed
from Brookline by Boston in 1870.
In 1886, Frederick Law Olmsted was hired by Mr. Whitney to draw up plans
for transforming Beacon St., west of the Boston and Albany tracks from a rural
country road to a 200' wide model French boulevard. The completed
thoroughfare measured a still-grand 160' in width. Whitney and Olmsted
envisioned Beacon St., west of Kenmore Square, as a logical extension of the
fashionable Back Bay district and their plans enjoyed a remarkable degree of
success. In 1887 Whitney's West End Rail Road Co. put an electrified street
car on Beacon St. to bring customers to Wesj: End Land Co. properties. In the
same year Park Drive, originally Audubon Road, was set out to connect Beacon
St. with Olmsted's main park system beginning near the Muddy River. Between
c. 1890-1915, Audubon Circle and vicinity was developed as a neighborhood of
well designed masonry single family row houses and three-six family apartment
buildings with a few larger multi unit structures.
The earliest residential development in the Audubon Circle area occured
along Beacon St., near the eastern and western edge of the district.
Initially- housing was characterized by groups of single family red brick and
brownstone turned bow front townhouses exhibiting elements and various
combinations of the Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Georgian Revival and
Classical Revival style. Notable examples include 918-924 Beacon St. (1889),
822-836 Beacon St. (1890) and 912-916 Beacon St. (1893). During the mid
1890 's real estate speculaton builders such as Samuel Shapleigh and Howard
Coon joined forces with Samuel D. Kelley, Arthur Bowdith and other Boston
architects (but primarily S.D. Kelly) to build row houses with sophisticated
detailing comparable to contemporary town houses in the Back Bay.
Particularly noteworthy is the Beacon St. streetscape (south side) between
Miner St. and Audubon Circle including 845 and 847 (1892), 849-853 (1895),
867-873 (1893), 875 (1894)and 877 Beacon St. (1895). This streetscape also
includes the Inverness (1898) at 857 Beacon St., a 6-story 12-family
24
apartment building which was a harbinger of the post 1900 trend toward multi
unit housing in this area. Later examples of Audubon Circle row housing are
located in the southwest corner of the district. Alternating rows of
Jacobethan and Georgian Revival single family, three story townhouses line
Park Drive, Beacon St., Keswick St. and St. Mary's St. Dating to the early
1900' s, the most notable example is the group at 899-909 Beacon St. The
Flemish gables and Hampton - court like tower at the Park Drive - Beacon St.
corner contribute greatly to Audubon Circle's uniqueness as an urban open
space. Good examples of three family houses include the Strath Cena (503-499
Park Drive) and the Audubon Terrace (504-500 Park Drive). These red brick and
rock face brownstone trimmed Queen Anne - Romanesque buildings serve as an
attractive "gate way" at the northern approach to Audubon Square. Also
noteworthy is the Jacobethan/Classical Revival, three-family building
constructed for judge Henry S.. Dervey in 1905 at 896 Beacon St. (northwest
curve of Audubon Circle) . The eastern side of Park Drive between the
Riverside line and Audubon Circle assesses noteworthy early 20th century multi
family houses, most notably the 6-family Arthur Bowditch designed Italian
Renaissance Revival structure at 465 Park Drive (1896) and 463, 461-459,
457-455 Park Drive. Unlike the West Fens, lots in this relatively small, com-
pact area were not ample enough to accomodate large apartment complexes. The
exception to this rule is Audubon Court, a large, U-shaped Jacobethan
apartment complex at 514-522 Park Drive (1915).
The Second Church in Boston or Ruggles Church is the most important
nonresidential structure in the sub-area and is the most visible landmark on
the Audubon Circle horizon. It was designed in the Georgian Revival style by
Ralph Adams Cram, the preeminent early 20th c. American Gothic church
specialist, in 1912-1914.
25
Kenmore Square
For the purpose of this survey, the Kenmore Square sub-area is bounded by
the northern side of Beacon St., Between Raleigh and Deerfield Sts., Kenmore
St. on the east, the Massachusetts Turnpike on the south and Blandford
St. /Commonwealth on the west. Kenmore Square was originally known as
Governor's Square and was developed as an area of residential, commercial and
light industrial facilities between c. 1890-1930. During this period Kenmore
Square became an important transportation center on the western edge of the
Back Bay residential district.
Prior to the 19th century Back Bay land fill operations, the Kenmore
Square area was a marshy wasteland at the tip of Sewall's Point, a peninsula
projecting from Brookline, surrounded by the waters of the Charles River
basin. By the early 1820' s a Mill Dam/Turnpike (later Beacon St.) had been
constructed from Charles and Beacon Sts. to what is now Kenmore Square. In
1835 the Boston and Worcester Railroad (later Boston and Albany Railroad) was
laid out through the southern portion if this area. Between 1860 and 1870 the
area from Charlesgate West to St. Mary's St. (including Kenmore Square) was
partially laid out . In 1861 Brookline Ave. (originally Brighton Road)
reached from Kenmore Square to Brighton and by 1881 reached Brookline. The
West End Street Railway Co. provided service to Kenmore Square by 1889. The
1890 atlas indicates the area as still devoid of structures and shows two
small, triangular grass covered plots near the center of the square on what is
now the bus terminal.
The earliest buildings on Kenmore Square is the group of Samuel D. Kelley
designed Queen Anne row houses at 510-522 Commonwealth Ave. Built in 1892,
several of these single family structures were converted for commercial and
multl unit residential use as early as the 1920' s. Other noteworthy
residential buildings include the white stone fronted single family town
houses at 506, 508 Commonwealth Ave. and the Jacobethan Charlesvlew apartment
building at 536 Commonwealth Ave. (c. 1910).
In addition to residential properties, this area became a center for
hotels, with half a dozen examples of their building type on and near the
26
square by the 1920' s. The first Hotel in the area was the Hotel Buckminster
which was erected c. 1900 and designed in the Beaux Arts and Renaissance
Revival style. This massive red brick and granite trimmed structure, with
its wide, bowed northeastern corner, dominates the Brookline Ave.,
Commonwealth Ave., Beacon St. intersection on the southwestern side of Kenmore
Square. The completion of nearby Fenway Park in 1911-1912 attracted thousands
of baseball fans to the area and encouraged commercial construction in the
area. Between 1910-1916 three large office/garage buildings were erected in
the northern side of Kenmore Square at 648-660 Beacon St. These concrete and
cast stone buildings were designed by the prominent Boston architectural firm
of Andrew Jacques and Rantoul as the headquarters of the Peerless Motor Co.
As early as 1916, a sign advertising their company was installed on the site
of the present Citgo sign. This sign or billboard had "electically lighted
letters of skeletal type, supported on an angle iron frame."
By the mid 1920' s the Kenmore Square area was almost completely built
up; a relatively late addition cast stone buildings at 542-548 Commonwealth
Ave. Exhibiting an elaborately decorated main facade with Renaissance Revival
and Baroque elements, it was built to house commercial enterprises, officers
and a branch of thr Shawmut Bank c. 1925. In addition several architecturally
interesting buildings are located just beyond Kenmore Square, including the
marble faced Temple Israel at 612 Commonwealth Ave. (now Boston University's
Morse Auditorium). Built in 1905-1906, it was designed by Boston theatre
specialist Clarence H. Blackall. The Edison Electric Illuminating Co.
transformer building at 693 Beacon St. possesses a highly academic Italian
Renaissance granite and cast stone facade.
It was designed by Bigelow and Wadsworth in 1916 and 1917.
Over time Kenmore Square residential, commercial and light industrial
building stock has been adapted for a variety of uses. Boston University, and
the now defunct Graham Junior College have used townhouses and hotels in the
area for dormitories. Industrial buildings are now being used to house
various institional functions, houses have been converted into apartments and
the commercial buildings have had their storefronts modernized to attract and
cater to the college community.
27
Since 1965 the Citgo sign, a fine and locally very rare example of the
spectacular neon display, has served as Kenmore Square's major geographically
orientating device. Perched high on top of 660 Beacon St., the Citgo sign
represents a less energy conscious, highly automobile dominated period in
American cultural history.
28
West Fens/Fenway Park
The West Fens/Fenway Park represents the most recent development in the
survey area. It is generally bounded by the Boston and Albany Railroad tracks/
Massachusetts Turnpike on the north, the winding path of Park Drive and the
Back Bay Fens on the east and south and the Riverside M.B.T.A. tracks on the
west. The portion of the disrtict south of Boylston St. was almost entirely
developed as a residential disrtict of large apartment complexes between
1915-1931. To the north of Boylston St. is a post-1900 commercial light
manufacturing district which contains Fenway Park. The West Fens is situated
on level, partially filled land that was characterized by marsh and pasture
lands bordering the Muddy River prior to the mid 19th century. Park Drive,
originally Audubon Road, appears on Olmsted plans of the late 1870' s and was
laid out during the early 1880' s. By 1887 Park Drive had been extended to
Audubon Circle/Beacon St. Back Bay Land Co. plans indicate that the streets
between Park Drive and Boylston St. (Peterborough, Queensberry, Jersey St.,
etc.) were laid out during the mid 1890' s. Unlike the East Fens, which were
extensively developed beginning c. 1880, the first building in the West Fens
was not constructed until 1899. In that year Charles K. Cummings designed the
red brick, Georgian Revival Mansion at 1 Queensberry St. for Robert T. Paine
Jr. Paine apparently expected the West side of the Back Bay Fens to develop
as an elegant, mirror image of the town house lined eastern side of the Park.
Despite proximity to the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall and Gardner
Palace, the Paine house remained virtually a solo performance until 1910. The
other residential properties in the area built during the early 1900' s are the
mansard crown Queen Anne/Georgian Revival town house designed by and for
Boston architect Theodore M. Clark at 107 Park Drive (corner Jersey St.) and
the A.L. Darrow designed row of restrained, tan brick town houses at 22-32
Peterborough St. (1903).
By 1910, the West Fens had caught the eye of real estate speculator -
developers and for the next 20 years this area was the scene of fairly large,
modestly priced apartment complex construction. These adjoining multi unit
structures were oriented to the Back Bay Fens and were very similar in style
to the apartment structures on the opposite side of the Fens. Early well
29
designed examples of these apartment complexes include the thirty one family,
Georgian Revival Peterborough Chambers at 133 Peterborough St. and the terra
cotta faced, 16-family Jacobethan/Georgian Stuart and Sumner at 35-45, 36-46
Peterborough St. (near Jersey St.). The U-shaped Stuart and Sumner with their
landscaped, recessed courts were designed by George N. Jacobs in 1915.
Particularly noteworthy is the undulating "wall" of yellow brick and cast
stone apartment buildings bordering Park Drive from Queensberry to Ki-lmarnok
Streets. Built during the early 1920' s and exhibiting elements of the
Georgian Revival, Beaux arts and Classical Revival styles, these multi unit
structures include 61-69, 73-95, 111, 117-121 and 125-151 Park Drive.
Noteworthy non-residential buildings between Park Drive and Boylston St.
include the austere, red brick Neo Classical church of the Disciples designed
by James Purdon at 105 Jersey St. (corner of Peterborough St., 1905) and the
chastely designed Martin Milmore School at 85 Peterborough St. which
represents the work of George Robinson (1929).
The streets between Boylston St. and the Riverside M.B.T.A. tracks, with
the notable exception of Brookline Ave., were laid out during the 1890' s.
Brookline Avenue dates to at least the early 19th century and was known as
"the road to the punch bowl Tavern" or "Punch Bowl Road".
Running from a hamlet on the Muddy River in Brookline, this thoroughfare was
extended to what is now Kenmore Square in 1861. In 1868 it was formally laid'
out and received its present name. The streets to the north of Boylston St.
are lined with post 1900 masonry light manufacturing, commercial, warehouse
and garage structures. Surviving from the earliest phase of its development
are Eben Jordan's Wheelwright and Haven designed Riding Stables at 145-151
Ipswich St. Conveniently located near Kenmore Square transportation
facilities is the Fenway baseball park which it opened its doors on April 20,
1912 (24 Yawkey Way, formerly Jersey St.). Prominently sited on a corner lot
across the street from Fenway Park, is the commercial Classical Revival
Richardson Building at 5-15 Yawkey Way and 76-88 Brookline Ave. (1916). The
most visible structure an the West Fens skyline is the tower of the huge Art
Deco Sears and Roebuck commercial/office building which was designed by
Charles Nimmon and Co. of Chicago, Illinois in 1928.
30
East Fens and vicinity
The dresent-shaped area considered in this study as the East Fens
sub-area is generally bounded by the Boston and Albany tracks on the north,
Dalton Street on the east, the Christian Science Center, St. Botolph Street,
and Huntington Avenue on the south, and the Fenway on the east.
Developed as part of the later phase of the extensive Back Bay land fill
operations during the 1880' s, the East Fens area began to be built-up with
single family row housing. Although the East Fens was developed through fill
activity, a peninsula known as Gravelly point jutted into the marshy Back Bay
from Roxbury and exists today as the area roughly enclosed by Hemenway and
Dalton Streets. As early as the 1830' s. Gravelly Point was the site of mills
and foundries established in connection with mill and cross dam operations in
Back Bay, and several brick and frame industrial structures remained in the
area around Hemenway and Norway Streets into the 1890 's while much of the
surrounding vicinity was being developed into a residential district included
the new homes of several prestigious cultural and educational institutions.
The earliest residential development in the East Fens area occured in the
early 1870' s just south of Gravelly Point along Parker Street in the vicinity
of today's Huntington Avenue. Of the modest mansard rows that were built in
this location, only the four houses at #220-26 Hemenway (near Fencourt Street)
have survived.
Subdivision and development of the East Fens district in the 1880' s
quickly transformed the new lands into residential streets. Although West
Chester Park (now Massachusetts Avenue) was part of the regular grid of the
Back Bay district, the street pattern in the East Fens was predominantly
determined on its western edge by the curvilinear contours of Olmsted's Back
Bay Fens, and in the heart of the area, by the alignment of early streets on
Gravelly Point that were laid out at right angles to Parker Street (now
Hemenway), an 1870' s extension of a 17th century Roxbury road which was cut
through across Gravelly Point laid-out over the cross dam and its causeway.
31
Around the mid-1880' s. West Chester Park and the streets in its immediate
surroundings began to develop with row housing. Although few of these
residences remain along Massachusetts Avenue, several Queen Anne and Georgian
Revival rows dating from this early development period are located on St.
Stephens Street and Symphony Road. The most notable of these are #38-56 and
37-57 St. Stephens (Peabody and Stearns, architects) and #4-8, 10-22 and 3-15
Symphony Road. Multiple unit buildings also were being put up at this time,
and the Romanesque Revival block at #23-27 St. Stephens and #1-1A Symphony
Road is representative of the 1880' s 4-family housing in the area.
By the early 1890' s the frontage facing out onto the Back Bay Fens began
to develop with substantial single-family housing which by the turn-of-the-
century included #52-54 The Fenway, Hartwell and Richardson, architects
(1895), the S.V.R. Thayer House at 28 The Fenway, A.W Longfellow, architect
(1896), and #22-24, and 26 The Fenway dating between 1900 and 1903 and
designed by Peabody and Steams. At this same time, row houses for a less
affluent class were being developed in the East Fens by speculators and #12-30
Edgerly Road (1893) an d#8-36 and #15-25 St. Germain remain as notable and
intact examples of the more modest row housing in the sub-area.
Multiple-unit residential buildings including 3 and 4-family houses,
hotels, apartment hotels and large-scale apartment buildings became an
important housing type beginning in the late 1890' s. Three and four family
houses repeat in form and scale the appearance of Back Bay town houses and
were built in stretches along several streets in the district.
Of these groupings of three- and four-family brick housing characteristic of
pockets of the East Fens, #38-56 and 27-65 St. Germain (1895-98) and #76-110,
65-115 Gainsborough and 114-120 Hemenway (1900-03) remain relatively intact,
although these have been or are in process of considerable interior
renovation.
Larger-scale apartment development predominated in the area especially
along The Fenway between Westland Avenue and Forsyth Park, along Westland
Avenue, on the even side of Huntington west along Gainsborough, and in the
Haviland, Burbank, and Norway Street area beginning in the 1910' s and
continuing through the 1920' s. Architectually notable examples of hotels and
32
apartment building development in the Ekst Fens includes the Carlton Hotel at
1138 Boylston Street, Arthur H. Bowditch, architect (1901-02), the Georgian
Revival apartment hotel at 91 Westland (1900), the Beaux Arts building at #114
The Fenway, (1912-13), the Beaux - Arts block at 1109 and 1111 Boylston St.
and 64 Charlesgate East (1914), the terra cotta fronted buildings at 80 and 84
The Fenway, (1914), the Federal Revival Students House at 96 The Fenway,
Kilham and Hopkins, architects (1913-14), and the three Classical Revival
apartment buildings at 66-74 The Fenway (1924).
Major cultural institutions established themselves in the East Fens or
relocated to the area from in-town locations beginning in the 1890' s. During
the following two decades the area included along its major frontages of The
Fenway, Huntington Avenue, and Massachusetts Avenue - The Massachusetts
Historical Society at 1154 Boylston, c. The Fenway (1897-99), the Boston
Medical Library, 8 The Fenway, now the Boston Consrvatory of Music (1899-1901),
Symphony Hall (1899-1900), Horticultural Hall (1900-01), New England
Conservatory of Music (1901-03), Boston Opera House, formerly at 353
Huntington, c. Opera Place (1909-10; demolished 1953), the Museum of Fine Arts
(1907-28) and the YMCA at 312-320 Huntington Avenue (1911-13).
Religious buildings located in the East Fens include St. Cecilia's Church
at 20 Belvidere Street, the first Roman Catholic Church in the Back Bay /Fenway
area, Charles J. Bateman, architect (1888-1892), St. Ann's Roman Catholic
Church, 77 St. Stephens Street, originally built as the Protestant Episcopal
Church of the Messiah, Rotch and Tilden, architects (1890-02), and St.
Clements Roman Catholic Church, 1103 Boylston Street, originally built as the
Universalist Church of the Redemption, Allen and Collens, architects
(1923-24), The First Church of Christ Scientist, the Mother Church of the
Christian Science faith built in 1893-94 was substantially enlarged ten years
later with a Renaissance Revival extension designed by Charles Brigham.
By the turn-of-the-century, Massachusetts Avenue started to acquire its
present day character as the main commercial street in the area. The Back Bay
branch of the State Street Bank was built at 130-32 Massachusetts Avenue in
33
1902, and by the 1910' s residential buildings along the thoroughfare began to
be remodeled and replaced by stores and offices. This redevelopment process
also affected Huntington Avenue, and several of its stately apartment blocks
were altered for ground floor retail and commercial uses.
Institutional development in the East Fens and its vicinity continues
into the present day, and is demonstrated most dramatically by the building-up
since the 1930' s of the Northeastern University campus along Huntington Avenue
and around Forsyth Way and Opera Place and by the completion of the Christian
Science Center which began to develop in the first years of this century and
which by the_1970's occupied a 15 acre site, much of which replaced an
1880's-90's neighborhood of three and four-story red brick residential
buildings.
34
Fenway-Longwood
In this survey, the boundary of the Fenway-Longwood sub-area extends from
the intersection of Louis Prang St. and Huntington Avenue to the southwest
along Huntington Avenue, turning to the north at the Muddy River (Brookline
boundary) . From here it follows the curving path of the Riverway to the
Fenway, then southeast returning to Huntington. Major streets running through
the area are Brookline Avenue (southwest/northeast) and Longwood Avenue
( southeast /northwest ) . Other streets within the sub-area are generally
parallel with these two. However, a grid street pattern is not evident here
due to the presence of numerous one to two block long streets, "T"
intersections, and institutional uses of large land areas.
In terms of Its topography the sub-area is largely flat, with a rise from
Longwood Avenue, and the Riverway upward to Francis St., cresting just
southeast of Binney St.
Open space dedicated to public park land exists at the sub-area
boundaries along the Riverway (Muddy River) and along the Fenway with the Back
Bay Fens as part of Boston's Olmsted-planned "Emerald Necklace." The small
Elliot P. Joslin Park (formerly Longwood Park) is found between Brookline
Avenue, Pilgrim, Joslin, and Deaconess Roads.
In addition to park land, considerable open space exists in the Fenway -
Longwood area as a result of the presence of several educational
institutions. Along The Fenway are Emmanuel and Simmons Colleges, both of
which have landscaped campuses. Avenue Louis Pasteur contains spacious
settings for Boston Latin and English High Schools. Harvard Medical School's
original complex of white marble Classical Revival buildings are formally
arranged around a large, grassy quadrangle opening onto Longwood Avenue at
Avenue Louis Pasteur.
At the present time, the area primarily characterized by the large-scale
use of educational and medical facilities, with a residential pocket between
Francis St., Huntington Avenue, and the Riverway. Some commercial uses are
found along Huntington and Brookline Avenue. Institutional expansion and its
35
parking needs continue to reduce the number of buildings extant from the
area's early development period (late 19th - early 20th century).
The Fenway-Longwood sub-area was part of the town of Roxbury (in Norfolk
County) until Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1868. Development in the
sub-area was sparse until late in the 19th century. Portions were covered in
marshes of the Muddy River and Stony Brook. Early streets in this region
included Tremont (its portion southwest of Francis St. is now part of
Huntington Avenue). Francis St. was laid out by 1832, as was Brookline
Avenue. Longwood Avenue was in place in 1857. A cluster of streets present
in 1852 near Francis and the Mill Dam Road (now Brookline Avenue) included
Binney, Cedar (now Pilgrim), Oak (now Autumn), Longwood St. (now part of The
Riverway), Park St. (now Deaconess), and Elm (now part of Longwood Avenue).
Appleton Place (now Short St. & Pilgram) had also been, laid out.
By 1873, large sections of the Fenway - Longwood sub-area remained
undeveloped, particularly from Brookline Avenue and Longwood Avenue
southeastward. Exceptions were several detached frame houses on the northeast
side of Longwood Avenue, in the vicinity of present-day Avenue Louis Pasteur,.
Another residential section was found in the area just east of Brookline
Avenue, between Fancis St. and Longwood Avenue. In addition to the dominant
frame structures, brick row houses were located on Brookline Avenue (from
Francis to Peabody Strs.) and on Peabody (from Brookline Avenue to Binney St.).
A brick school stood at the northeast corner of Francis and Binney Sts.
Further detached frame residential development in 1873 was found along
Maple Avenue (now Pilgrim Road), Appleton Place (now Short St.), and Brookline
Avenue. This neighborhood had been a parcel owned by L. Pope and N.H. Emmons
in 1845. Lot sizes shown in an 1845 plan ranged from 15,000 to 40,000 square
feet, with some extending to Longwood Stream. The earliest extant structure
in the sub-area is the house at 4 Short st. (ca. 1850), a frame Italianate
style dwelling with 3 bay front facade and gable end walls. Its neighbor, an
Italianate/Stick Style house (ca. 1875) provides the only other example of an
early residence in the sub-area. Both houses are now part of Simmons
College's residential campus.
36
The Ebenezer Francis estate of over 20 acres was at Tremont and Francis
Streets, extending to Longwood Avenue and present-day Vining & Blackfan Sts.
Francis' heirs were owners of the estate in 1873; they also owned other tracts
northeast of Longwood Avenue. Other large estates were located along Tremont
southwest of Francis St. The Catholic House of the Good Shepard, with its
large brick building and surounding land of 385,070 sq. ft. stood at the site
of the present modern Mission Park housing development. Further southwest was
the Catherine D. Hancock estate.
Small lots with detached frame dwellings were found lining Downer St. No
longer extant, this street was parallel with Brookline Avenue, just inside the
Boston/Brookline boundary. By 1873, Longwood Park (now Joslin Park) was in
Place.
Before the implementation of Olmsted's plan for the Riverway and Fenway,
the area northeast of Longwood Avenue was partially covered in creek and marsh
lands. Industrial uses existed along the northeast side of Longwood Avenue,
near its present intersection with Huntington Avenue. Three buildings of a
floor oil cloth manufacturing stood on a large land parcel which extended to
the water's edge. Further to the northwest on Longwood Avenue was a currying
works .
Between the years 1873 and 1890, little additional development had
occurred in the Fenway-Longwood sub-area. By 1875, the Panel Brick style fire
station at Longwood and Brookline Avenues was built. It remains standing
today in commercial use, with drastic alterations. The Massachusetts Home for
Intemperate Women, a brick structure, was standing at Binney and Smyrna Sts.
(now Deaconess Road) .
Huntington Avenue had been extended to Francis St. in 1882, and some
construction had taken place along it by 1890. Notable extant buildings are
the brick "Elsie" and "Ormonde" apartment buildings at 641 and 643 Huntington
Avenue (1888), which feature Richardsonian Romanesque and Classical
ornamentation. A few other brick row houses and the Martin School also had
been erected on Huntington. However, the area between Huntington Avenue, The
Fenway, and its Tremont and Huntington entrances remained undeveloped in 1890.
37
Layout of the Fenway and Riverway in the late 1880' s brought new development
opportunities with them.
Many changes in the development character of the Fenway-Long wood sub-area
took place around the turn-of-the-century . Housing development accelerated
southwest of Francis St. as large land parcels were subdivided and the new
streets of Kenwood (now Fenwood) , Crowley (now St. Albans), and Kempton
were laid out. House lots were rapidly developed with frame, detached 2 and
3-family dwellings. Nearly all of the lots had been built upon by 1906,
Kempton St. was lined with brick row housing. A notable concentration of
those frame houses remains today. Realtor Jeremiah C. Spillane was the
developer for many of the handsome Colonial Revival 2-family residences and
triple-deckers along Francis St. and Fenwood Road (extant examples include 50
and 58 Francis, 4, 11, 15, and 40 Fenwood Rd.). Spillane 's real eatate office
was located nearby at Huntington and Francis from 1899 to 1906. The Farragut
School (10 Fenwood), a brick Georgian Revial structure, was designed by
Wheelwright and Haven and built in 1903.
It was early in the 20th century that the Fenway-Longwood sub-area began
taking on its present character as a principal site for educational and
medical institutions. Venetian-inspired Fenway Court, the Isablla Gardner
Museum (architect W.T. Sears), completed in 1903, had the distinction of being
the first building along the Fenway (#280). Simmons Female College acquired
property nearby and in 1904 moved into its newly finished Classical Revival
building (300 The Fenway) designed by Peabody and Stearns. Sinmions' first
dormitory was built in 1905 at 321 Brookline Avenue, a Georian Revival building
by architect Guy Lowell.
Harvard University's Medical School held dedication ceremonies for its
complex of Classical Revival white marble buildings in September of 1906.
The University Trustees' purchase of a large section of the Francis estate
included vacant land set aside for future hospital use. By 1906, Children's
Hospital owned the vacant parcel adjacent to the nortwest side of the Medical
School. Planning for the school was underway by 1900, with the architectural
firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge as designer.
38
Other medical facilities were moving into the area, such as the New
England Deaconess Home and Training School (175 Pilgrim Rd, built in 1903).
Harvard's Dental School building (Shepley, Rutan, and Colidge, architects) at ■
188 Longwood was erected 1908-1909.
The City of Boston chose a site on Huntington Avenue for its new Girls'
Latin and Normal Schools, commissioning prominent architectural firms for
their design. Coolidge and Carlson; Peabody and Stearns; and Maginnis, Walsh,
and Sullivan were responsible for a handsome, formal complex of Beaux-Arts
buildings. Erected in 1906-1907, some of these remain as part of Roxbury
Community College and the relocated portions of the Mass College of Art.
Boston's Commercial High School was built a block away on Avenue Louis Pasteur
within a few years (site of present English High School).
Another school in the sub-area is the Winsor School (103 Pilgrim RD.), a
private girls' day school which opened in 1910. R.Clipston Sturgis was
designer of this Modern Gothic style building.
Further develpment on the Fenway occurred when the Convent and the
Academy of Notre Dame (now Emmanuel College, 400 the Fenway) was begun in 1913.
This distinguished Modern Gothic structure was the work of architects Maginnis
and Walsh. The same year, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (Codman and
Despradelle, architects) opened (Francis St. at Huntington Ave.) adjacent to
Harvard Medical School on a portion of the former Francis estate. Classical
Revival design is seen in both the Brigham Hospital and Children's Hospital
(300 Longwood, another work by architects Shepley, Rytan, and Coolidge), which
was begun in 1912 and completed in 1914. The former building of the Angell
Memorial Animal Hospital (180 Longwood) dates from this period as well,
designed by Putnam and Cox (1913-1915). Across Longwood Avenue, (#179) the
Classical Revival Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (Kilham and Hopkins,
architects) was built in 1918.
Simmons College was acquiring residentail properties between Pilgrim Road
and Brookline Avenue, close to its dormitories, North and South Halls, by
1915. Around this time, the section along Huntington Avenue (#873-877) and
39
the Riverway (#382-394) took on its dense residential character of today with
the construction of numerous apartment blocks.
In the 1920' s, the Mediterranean Revival Boston Lying-in Hospital and
Nurses' Home at 221 Longwood was completed, as was the similarly detailed
Vanderbilt Hall (245 Longwood), housing for Harvard Medical School students.
The Georgian Revival style Boston Public Latin High School (78 Avenue Louis
Pasteur), designed by James E. McLaughlin, was opened in 1922. Additional
institutions, which opened facilities on previously undeveloped land in this
decade were Beth Israel Hospital and Massachusetts College of Art on Brookline
Avenue .
Changes in the Fenway-Longwood. area's physical character during more
recent years of the 20th century have been caused by growth and expansion of
the area's institutions. The campuses of Simmons and Emmanuel Colleges now
include numerous contemporary buildings. Simmons' residential campus has
almost obliterated signs of its 19th century neighborhood of frame houses.
Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital, and the Brigham and Women's
Hospital (successor to the Peter Bent Brigham) and Beth Israel Hospital , have
added new buildings among the old, in some cases demolishing parts of their
original facilities. Other examples of recent construction in the sub-area
are the English High School on Avenue Louis Pasteur, Dana Farber Cancer
Institute (Brookline Avenue). New commercial and mixed-use buildings are
found on Brookline Avenue to the southwest of Longwood Avenue, while the
recent residential development of Mission Park encompasses a large tract on
Huntington. Increased demand for parking spaces and physical support
facilities for the medical institutions has also decreased the stock of
earlier structures.
40
II. METHODOLOGY
General Procedures
The Fenway Preservation Study essentially consisted of three procedures:
field survey, documentary research, and evaluation. The field survey of all
properties within the- study area was conducted on foot. Approximately 1,000
structures were visually surveyed. In addition, the style, material, and type
of each building were recorded on a 100-scale, Figure 5 photogrammetric base
map. The key to this map can be found in Appendix II. The second procedure
involved documentary research using Boston archives, libraries, Suffolk County
Deeds, and relevant respositories, to investigate primary and secondary
sources. The third procedure was evaluation of the entire survey which
resulted in recommendations for preservation activity.
Because of the considerable number of structures within the survey area,
the decision was made to record buildings or areas of particular historic
and/or architectural significance using the standard Boston Landmarks
Commission Building Information Form (Appendix I) . Buildings selected for
inclusion in these foirms were marked on a 400-scale Fenway map by black dots
with accompanying notations of inventory form numbers.
The Fenway was divided into the following sub-areas which were primarily
determined by historic research and topographical divisions: Audubon Circle,
Kenmore Square, Fenway /Longwood, West Fens /Fenway Park, East Fens and
vicinity, and Back Bay Fens. (Map II).
Recording and Evaluation
Individual Buildings - Building Information Forms were completed for 170
individual structures, using the following criteria in the selection process
(map IV) :
1. Uniqueness in The Fenway,
2. Good examples of an architectural style and/or type,
41
3. Association with important national or local events or personalities,
4. Prominent visual landmarks, and
5. Nationally significant landscapes
Districts - Were evaluated on the basis of the distinctiveness of
individual buildings and cohesiveness of the streetscape, and in some
instances, the historical significance of the area. Whenever possible,
buildings were grouped into National Register districts rather than singled
out for individual listing (Map III) .
Research Procedure
Research was focused on determining date or date range, architect and/or
builder, original property owners and original appearance of buildings
recorded on individual forms, as well as sequence of neighborhood development
and street development pattern. The investigation procedure followed these
general stages:
1. Field observation and building description.
2 Examination of building permits.
3. Examination of maps, and atlases using the collections at the Boston
Public Library, Boston Athenaeum, Bostonian Society, S.P.N.E.A. , and
Massachusetts State Library.
4. Examination of Boston directories, as well as histories of The Fenway.
5. Deed research at the Suffolk and Norfolk County Registries of Deeds.
6. Examination of local newspapers including the Boston Transcript, Boston
Globe, and the Boston Pilot.
7. Examination of photographs and views in the collections of the Boston
Public Library-Print Department, the Society for the Preservation of New
England Antiquities, and the Bostonian Society.
42
Photography - Photographs were taken for buildings described on
individual Building Information Forms. These photographs were taken by all
three consultants.
Information Organization- The 100-scale map (Building
Style/Material/Type) and copies of all building information forms will be kept
on file at the offices of the Boston Landmarks Commission and will be
available for consultation. Building information forms are organized in a
loose-leaf notebook and are further arranged alphabetically by street
address. These Building Information Forms, which are numbered using a system
adopted for all survey and inventory purposes in Boston (Appendix III) , are
also available for study at the Boston Landmarks Commission. Duplicate
building information forms also will be kept on file at the Massachusetts
Historical Commission, The Boston Public Library-Art Department, the Bostonian
Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the Library of the Society for the Preservation
of New England Antiquities, and the Library of the Boston Redevelopment
Authority.
A file on architects, builders, and developers active in The Fenway was
organized with information recorded on 3x5 index cards and subsequently
transferred to typed listing arranged alphabetically by name. This list will
be available for consultation at the Landmarks Commission and copies at the
agencies and institutions previously listed.
The buildings selected were next evaluated as to relative architectural
and historical importance using the following six-category system:
I. Highest Significance;
Buildings in Category I are considered to have national significance
* as buildings associated with Boston history, particularly the
Colonial and Revolutionary War periods
* as nationally-known examples of the work of Boston architects,
or
43
* as examples of particular building styles or types which became
prototypes for similar buildings throughout the nation or which
are rare throughout the nation.
All buildings in this category merit designation as Boston Landmarks and
are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Buildings which fall into Category I are coded on the survey forms with
the number (I).
II. Major Significance
Buildings in this category are considered to have the highest
significance to the City of Boston, the Commonwealth, and the New England
Region
* as the city's most outstanding examples of their style or building
type, distinguished for high architectural quality and high degree
of intactness
* as early or rare examples of the use of a particular style or
building technology in Boston
* as buildings outstanding in their setting, with particular urban
design value, or
* as buildings of the highest regional or local historical
significance.
Although often less well known than buildings in Category I, these
buildings are also considered to meet the criteria for designation as
Boston Landmarks, as well as being potentially eligible for individual
listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Buildings which
fall into Category II are coded on the survey forms with the number (II).
III. Significant
Buildings in Category III are considered to be of significance to the
City of Boston
* as fine examples of the work of Boston architects
* as buildings which make an important contribution to the character
of a street or area
* as buildings with strong historical associations with major Boston
industries or events, or
44
* as fine examples of a particular style or building type.
All buildings in Category III falling outside the boundaries of suggested
National Register Districts are considered eligible for individual
listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In some cases,
buildings in Category III may also meet the criteria for designation as
Boston City Landmarks. Buildings which fall into Category III are coded
on the survey forms with the nximber (III).
IV. Notable
Buildings in Category IV are considered important to the character of
their particular street, neighborhood, or area
* as an integral part of a visually cohesive streetscape or integral
element within a district
* as buildings with some individual architectural distinction, whether
because of their materials, craftsmanship or detailing
* as the best examples in their area of a particular style or building
type, or
* as buildings with some local historical significance.
Buildings in Category IV are not considered significant enough to be
designated as Boston City Landmarks or to be listed individually on the
National Register of Historic Places. Buildings which fall into Category IV
are coded on the survey forms with the number (IV).
V. Minor
Buildings in Category V are of little architectural or historical
interest but may be considered to make a minor contribution to the
streetscape
* as buildings which are compatible with surrounding structures in
scale, style, materials, or fenestration patterns, or
* as buildings with some architectural interest or integrity.
Buildings in this category are not considered eligible for designation as
Boston City Landmarks or for individual listing on the National Register
of Historic Places. Buildings which fall into Category V are coded on
the survey forms with the number (V) .
VI. Non-Contributing
Buildings in Group VI are considered to be visual intrusions,
incompatible with the surrounding architectural fabric. Buildings in
Category VI are coded on the survey forms with the number (VI) .
45
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III. RECOMMENDATIONS
As outlined in the Methodology section, the survey- results were
evaluated for architectural and historic significance. Based on this
evaluation, reconmendations for preservation activity were made by the
consultants. The recommended activities consist of listing of indlvidioal
buildings and districts in the National Register of Historic Places and
designation as Landmark or Architectural Conservation Districts by the Boston
Landmarks Commission. The recommendations of properties and brief
descriptions of their architectural characteristics follow.
A. Districts
The recommendations are divided into two parts: those considered to meet
criteria for both National Register listing and Boston Landmark District
designation and those considered to meet criteria for National Register and
Architectural Conservation Districts. Proposed districts are shown on Map
III. Previously designated Architectural Conservation Districts adjacent to
the Fenway Study Area (and also shown on Map III) are the Bay State Road/Back
Bay West and St. Botolph Districts.
Districts meeting criteria for National Register and Landmark Designation
1. Fenway District
#56-64 Charlesgate East, 8-54, 60-140 and 230 The Fenway, 465 Huntington
Avenue, 43-67 and 52-86 Hemenway, 91 Westland, 1103-1111 and 1138-1154
Boylston, 16-30 Ipswich, and all of the park strips and subsidiary frontages
facing the Back Bay Fens between Ipswich and Louis Pasteur Streets. (Maps
22N/10E, 21N/9E, 22N/9E).
Considered eligible for including an impressive group of residential and
institutional buildings of local, regional, and national significance fronting
on, or in the immediate vicinity of Frederick Law Olmsted's Back Bay Fens
which survives as the northerly end of Boston's nationally important linear
park system - now listed in the National Register and protected as a Boston
Landmark.
46
Buildings in the proposed Fenway district date from the early 1890' s '
through the 1920 's and represent a full range of notable examples of the
architectural styles of that era. Between Boylston Street and Westland
Avenue, the Fenway frontage is predominantly built-up with substantial
single-family residences while apartment development representative of the
best examples of this building type in the study characterize Charlesgate East
and The Fenway frontage between Westland Avenue and Forsyth Park. At the
district's southerly and between Forsyth Park and Louis Prang Street, The
Fenway is developed with large-scale institutional buildings. This area has
already been listed in the National Register because of its common themes of
single-family row house styles and extraordinary institutional styles.
Buildings of particular historical and/or architectural significance in
the proposed district include Willard T. Sears' Jacobethan style New Riding
Club (1892) at 52 Hemenway, Wheelwright and Haven's Massachusetts Historical
Society at 1154 Boylston Street (National Registered Landmark)* (1897-1899),
Shaw and Hunnewell's Renaissance Revival Boston Medical Library at 8 The
Fenway,* now the Boston Conservatory of Music (1899-1901). The Peabody and
Stearns residences at 22 and 24* The Fenway (1900), Arthur Bowdltch's Carlton
Hotel at 1138 Boylston Street, now the Berklee College of Music (1901-02),*
The Fenway Studios at 30 Ipswich Street* (1904-06), Parker and Thomas,
architects (already listed in the National Register), Guy Lowell's Johnson
Memorial Gates (1902) at the Westland Avenue entry to the Fens, his Beaux-Arts
apartment block at 67 Hemenway (1904-05) and his Neo-Classical Museum of Fine
Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue (1907-38),* Edward T.P. Graham's Neo-Classlcal
Forsyth Dental Infirmary at 140 The Fenway (1912-14),* the Allen and Collins
Modern Gothic St. Clement's Church at 1103 Boylston Street,* formerly the
Church of the Redemption (1923-24), and Guy Lowell's Georgian Revival School
of the Museum of Fine Arts at 230 The Fenway (1926-27).*
* See also indlvldiial recommendations.
47
2. Harvard Medical School District
230 and 240 Longwood Avenue and 25 Shattuck St. (Buildings A, B, C, D, E,
of the School). Completed 1906. Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, architects.
(Maps 21N-8E and 21N-9E) (F/K 528)
Qualifies as an architecturally distinguished complex of Classical
Revival style buildings, a major work of a prominent Boston architectural
firm. This formal grouping of white marble - clad buildings around a grassy
quadrangle has housed Harvard Medical School since 1906, and provides a
handsome landmark in the Longwood area. Harvard University's first Medical
School classes were held in 1782 in Harvard Hall at the Cambridge campus.
Today the School is recognized nationally as an exceptional medical teaching
and research institution. Its moved to this site on Longwood Avenue was a
major influence in the growth of this area of the city as the home of many
significant Boston medical facilities.
3. Southwest Fenway District
280 The Fenway, 300 The Fenway, 400 The Fenway, and all of the park
strips and subsidary frontages facing the Back Bay Fens and Muddy River
between Louis Prang St. and Brookline Avenue. (Maps 22N-9E and 21N-9E)
(F/K 514, 515,516)
Considered eligible as a group of architecturally and historically
significant institutional buildings facing the Fenway, Muddy River, and the
Back Bay Fens. Development in this section only occurred after implementation
of Frederick Law Olmsted's park plan. The city's "Emerald Necklace" has been
given National Register and Boston Landmark status. Buildings included in the
District are Willard T. Sears' Venetian Fenway Court (The Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum, 1900-1902) at 280 The Fenway* (National Register), Simmons
College's Classical Revival Main building at 300 The Fenway* (architects
Peabody & Stearns, 1901-1904), and the distinguished Modern Gothic Emmanuel
College main building (architects Maginnis and Walsh, 1913-1916) at 400 The
Fenway.* Three of the colleges' contemporary buildings located on The Fenway
would fall within the boundaries of this district.
* See also individual recommendations.
48
■ 4. Symphony District
One Norway Street, Christian Science Church at Norway Street, near
Massachusetts Avenue, 300 and 301 Massachusetts Avenue, 241-47 St. Botolph
Street, 250-320 and 249-307 Huntington, 29-35 and 30, 40-46 Gainsborough
Street. (Maps 22N/10E, and 23N/10E).
Considered eligible for its concentration along Massachusetts and
Huntington Avenues of prominently sited architecturally distinguished
buildings which serve as the homes of cultural, educational, and religious
institutions of major importance to the city of Boston and the nation and
remain as an intact grouping of important works by architects of local,
regional, and national influence.
Included in the district is McKim, Mead, and White's Symphony Hall
(National Register)* (1899-1900), Wheelwright and Haven's Horticultural Hall*
(National Register) (1900-01), and New England Conservatory of Music*
(National Register) (1901-03), The Christian Science Church Extention,*
designed by Charles Brigham (1904-06), the Getting Industrial School* 241-47
St. Botolph Street, designed by Peabody and Stearns (1903), Shepley, Rutan, and
Coolidge's YMCA* (1911-13) at 312-20 Huntington Avenue, the Jewett Repertory
Theatre,* now Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, designed by J.
Williams Seal (1924-25), and the Christian Science Publishing Society at One
Norway Street.*
District interiors qualifying for protective status as Boston Landmarks
include Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall (New England Conservatory of Music),
Christian Science Church - auditoriums of the original buildings (1893) and
the extention, and the lobby and Mapparium at the Christian Science Publishing
Co.
* See also individual recommendations.
49
Districts meeting criteria for National Register and Architectural
Conservation District designation
1. Audubon Circle District
499-503 and 500-504 Park Drive, comer Buswell, 896 Beacon St., 900
Beacon St., 906-924 Beacon St., 100-102 St. Mary's St. and 90 St. Mary's
St, 874-880 Beacon St., 845-879 Beacon St. (including 7 Miner St., 8-16
Aberdeen St., 447-465 Park Drive, 448-468 Park Drive, 899-923 Beacon St.,
6-16 and 5-17 Keswick St., 124-134 St. Mary's St. and 12-34 Medford St.
(Maps 23N-8E and 23N-9E)
Considered eligible for its collection of well designed residential
buildings and the vei^y fine Ralph Adams Cram designed Second Church in Boston
or Ruggles Church (1914). In addition, Audubon Circle and Beacon St. were
planned in 1886 by the pre-eminent 19th century American landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted. Buildings in the proposed Audubon Circle district were
built from 1888 to c. 1915 and represent an extension of the fashionable Back
Bay residential district. Beacon St. and the curved edge of Audubon Circle
are built up with substantial single-family row houses, three-family houses
and larger apartment complexes. Architecturally and/or. historically
signifigant buildings in the proposed district include several S.D. Kelly
groups of Queen Anne /Romanes que row houses row houses documenting the earliest
stage of the area's development, e.g. 918-924 Beacon St. (1889). Highly
individual row house designs appear on the Renaissance Revival 875 Beacon St.
and the Georgian/ Classical Revival 877 Beacon St. (1895). Both houses were
built in 1895 and designed by S.D. Kelly. Jacobethan residences include the
groups at 899-909 Beacon and 6-16 Keswick St. designed by W.L. Morrison in
1901, the baronial three family house designed by Kilham and Hopkins for Judge
Henry S. Dewey c. 1905 and the large, U-shaped Audubon Court apartment complex
(now B.U. dorms, built 1915-1916). Benjamin Fox designed the three family
Strathcona Terrace and Audubon Terrace in the Romanesque/Georgian Revival
style (449-503 and 500-504 Park Drive, 1903). The six story, Beaux
Arts-Jacobethan Inverness at 857 Beacon St. was one of the first large multi
unit buildings in the area and dates to the late 1890' s. Architecturally the
50
most significant building 'in this proposed district, and the major landmark on
its "skyline" is the very fine Ralph Adams Cram designed Second Church in
Boston (and parsonage) which was designed in the Georgian Revival style in
1914.
2. Park Drive District
1 Queensberry St., 51-55, 61-69, 73-79, 107, 111, 117-121, 125-151 Park
Drive and all of the Park strips and subsidiary frontages facing the Back Bay
Fens between Queensberry St. and Kilmarnock St. (Map 22N-9E)
Considered eligible as an interesting, contiguous collection of town
houses (two) and large apartment buildings facing the Back Bay Fens and
representing the highest quality designs in the West Fens. These structures
summarily document the developmental history of the area from 1899-1930 and
exhibit elements of the Queen Anne, Georgian Revival, Beaux Arts and Classical
Revival styles.
The proposed district includes the Georgia Revival Robert Treat paine Jt.
House (1899). It is the oldest structure in the West Fens and represents the
work of Charles K. Cummlngs. Boston architect Theodore M. Clark designed and
originally occupied #107 Park Drive. Built in 1903, this house is an
intriguing blend of the Mansard, Queen Anne and Georgian Revival styles. The
majority of structures bordering the curving path of Park Drive and the Back
Bay Fens are speculator built apartment complexes dating from c. 1910-1930.
The work of 1910' s and 1920 's Boston apartment building specialists
Silverman, Brown and Hienan are well represented here and include the
flamboyantly ornamented 111 Park Drive (1922) and 125-143 Park drive (1922).
George N. Jacobs was responsible for #61-69 Park Drive (1921).
3. St. Germain Street District
#8-62 and 15-69 Bt. Germain and 10-12 Dalton Street (Map 23N/10E)
Considered eligible as an intact pocket of modestly scaled 1890' s Queen
Anne and Romanesque Revival single and three-family row housing which has
retained much of its original architectural character, style, and detail. St.
Geinnain Street is of particular importance as the last remaining grouping of
51
red brick residences and multiple-unit housing that developed during the 1880 's
and 1890' s in the vicinity of Massachusetts Avenue, Falmouth, Norway, and
Dalton Streets, and which characterized much of that area prior to the
development in the 1970' s of the Christian Science Center.
4. St. Stephen/Symphony Road District
#23-121 and 28-122 St. Stephen Street, 50-58, 76-110 and 69-116
Gainsborough Street, lA-33 and 2-42 Symphony Road, and 114-148 Hemenway.
(Map 22N/10E) . - - -
The St. Stephen/Symphony Road area encompasses much of the residential
core of the East Fens area and qualifies as a protected district for its
inclusion of architecturally significant and substantially intact single-family
rows dating from the mid-1880' s through the early 1890' s and multiple—unit 4
and 5-story residential buildings of high design quality dating from the late
1880' s through the 1910' s. A neighborhood predominantly of moderately scaled
red brick housing, the district includes at 28-36, 38-48, 54-64 and 37-57 St.
Stephens Streets, Peabody and Stearns' late Queen Anne and Georgian Revival
rows and along both sides of Gainsborough, turn-of-the-century 4-family
residences designed by Arthur H. Vinal. Also located in the district is the
Victorian Gothic Rotch and Tilden designed St. Ann's Roman Catholic church,
originally built for the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Messiah.*
* See individual recommendations. Considered individually eligible for
National Register inclusion.
I
I
I-
52
B. ' Recommendations for Individual Properties
The recommendations are divided into three parts: (1) those properties
meeting criteria for both National Register listing and Boston Landmark
designation, (2) those meeting criteria for National Register listing only,
and (3) those recommended for further study. See Map IV for individual
recommendations and Map V for further study recommendations.
Meeting Criteria for National Register and Boston Landmark designation
1. Back Bay Fens.
(Maps 22N-9E; 22N-10E; 23N-9|:; 23N-10E) (F/K 900A, and for structures:
900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 500, 501)
Already listed in the National Register as part of the Olmsted Park
System and designated a Boston Landmark, the Back Bay Fens is a site
representative of elements of landscape design embodying distinctive
characteristics of late 19th century park planning and implementation and is a
notable work of Frederick Law Olmsted, whose work influenced the development
of the City, Commonwealth, region, and nation.
2. Children's Hospital
(Original administrative building). 300 Longwood Avenue. 1912-1914.
Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, architects. ' (Map 21N-8E) (F/K 529)
Qualifies as a noteworthy example of Classical Revival institution
architecture, designed by Boston's important firm of Shepley, Rutan, and
Coolidge. It was constructed to house Boston's Children's Hospital, which had
been incorporated in 1869. At that time it was the third pediatric hospital
established in the United States, and today is recognized throughout the
nation for its medical contributions. The 4-story building has an exterior
material of a concrete conglomerate; its design features a front facade of 25
bays with a central Corinthian-columned portico and is crowned by a copper
dome.
53
3. Christian Science Publishing Society
One Norway Street. Chester Lindsay Churchill, architect. 1932-34. (Map
23N/10E) (F/K 703)
Considered eligible as the home and publishing plant of the international
daily newspaper The Christian Science Monitor, and as a visually prominent
Neo-Classlcal building displaying distinguished design features including an
enclosed courtyard along Massachusetts Avenue, a set-back temple-like roof
extension near its Massachusetts Avenue end, the atrixom-like building lobby,
and the 30' in diameter stained glass and bronze Mapparium room which provides
an inside-out intact view of a world globe of the 1930' s.
The Lobby and Mapparium of the building also merit designation.
(The Christian Science Publishing Society is included in the proposed
Symphony National Register and Landmark District).
4. CITGO sign
located on top of 660 Beacon St. 1965. (Map 23N-9E) (F 910).
The CITGO sign is a fine and locally very rare example of the spectacular
neon display which, in its extravagant use of neon lighting, its marketing of
petroleum products and its appeal to the moving automobile, represents a less
energy conscious, highly automobile dominated period in America's cultural
history. Technologically innovative in the history of advertising signs, it
is also a key visual landmark on the Boston skyline. It is considered to meet
Landmark criteria as a man-made object representative of elements of design
and craftsmanship which embody distinctive characteristics of a type
inherently valuable for study of a period and method of construction. It is
of cultural significance in representing a popular cultural, urban aesthetic
influenced by technology and springing in part from our automobile oriented
age. Due to complex legal and policy issues surrounding designation, the
Boston Landmarks Commission denied a petition for Landmark status on January
25, 1983.
54
5. Emmanuel College, Main building
400 The Fenway, 1913-1916. Maginnis and Walsh, architects. (Map
22N-9E) (F/K 516)
Qualifies as an intact, noteworthy example of Modern Gothic academic
design. The Boston firm of Maginnis and Walsh was responsible for this red
brick structure with distinctive bell tower, one of the firm's many buildings
for Catholic institutions in the Boston area. This edifice also serves as a
significant visual landmark along the Fenway. Originally the Convent and
Academy of Notre Dame, this building was completed in 1916, and Emmanuel day
college opened here in 1919 and was granted a charter in 1921.
(Emmanuel College's main building is also included in Southwest Fenway
District)
6. Fenway Studios
30 Ipswich Street, near Charlesgate East. Parker and Thomas, architects.
1904-06. (Map 23N/10E) (F/K 701)
Included in the National Register, The Fenway Studios qualifies for
Boston Landmark status as a relatively unaltered building which has been in
continuous use as artists' studios and housing since its completion, as a rare
example of the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement on Boston
architecture as a design by a prominent firm and in addition, through its
close association with the Boston school - a group of painters of local and
regional influence.
The Fenway Studios also has been included in the proposed Fenway National
Register and Landmark District.
55
7. First Church of Christ Scientist
Christian Science Center near Massachusetts Avenue. Original church, -
Franklin I. Welch, architect. 1893-94. Extension, Charles Brigham with
S.S. Beman, architects. 1904-06. (Map 23N/10E) (F/K 535)
Qualifies as an architecturally significant church complex, historically
important through its association with Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of
Christian Science and as the Mother Church of the Christian Science faith.
The domed Church Extension which is much larger in scale than the earlier
Romanesque Revival building is a distiguished example of Renaissance Revival
architecture, and since its completion, has maintained its physical presence
as an architectural landmark of the city.
The auditoriums of both church buildings remain intact and also merit
designation.
(The First Church of Christ Scientist is included in the proposed
Symphony National Register and Landmark district).
8. Forsyth Dental Center
140 The Fenway. Edward T.P. Graham, architect. 1912-14. (Map 22N/10E)
(F/K 512)
Qualifies as an architecturally significant marble-faced building
prominently sited at one of the primary landscaped entrances to the Back Bay
Fens and forming with the Museum of Fine Arts, just across Forsyth Way, an
impressive Neo-Classival setting in the Fenway. Forsyth Dental Center is also
of importance as the home of a major Boston health institution and as one of
the most important centers for dental research and education in the country.
The cafeteria of the building, formerly the Children's Waiting Room, is
decorated with a Delft tile frieze of scenes of children's stories from
designs by Boston artist and architect A.H. Hepburn. It also considered
eligible for designation.
The Forsyth Dental Center is included in the proposed Fenway National
Register and Landmark District.
56
9. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Fenway Court)
280 The Fenway. 1900-1902. Willard T. Sears, architect. (Map 22N-9E)
(F/K 514)
Listed in the National Register, the Gardner Museum qualifies for its
significance as an architecturally distinctive Venetian - inspired structure
which was built as the home and museum of Isabella Stewart Gardner, who made
important contributions to the city's cultural life. Her diverse collection
of art includes Medieval and Renaissance sculpture, contemporary paintings
(Whistler, Sargent, Degas, Matisse), and other works. The focal point of the
building is the skylight-covered interior courtyard with its Venetian windows,
arcades, sculpture, and horticultural displays.
Also considered eligible for Landmark designation of its interior.
The Gardner Museum is also included in the proposed Southwest Fenway
District.
10. Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue and 247 Huntington Avenue. Wheelwright and
Haven, architects, 1900-01. (Map 22N/10E) (F/K 536)
Prominently located across Massachusetts Avenue from Symphony Hall,
Horticultural Hall qualifies as a major work of an important architectural firm
and as the continuing home of a cultural and educational institution of local,
regional and national significance. Horticultural Hall also has been included
in the proposed Symphony National Register and Landmark district.
\
57
11. Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street, c. Fenway. Wheelwright and Haven, architects.
1897/9. (Map 23/10) (F/K 505)
A Registered National Landmark since 1966, the Massachusetts Historical
Society is considered eligible as the home of a cultural institution founded
in 1791 and remaining as the oldest state historical society in the U.S. and
as a major work of an important architectural firm. The Massachusetts
Historical Society is prominently located across from Olmsted's Back Bay Fens.
1154 Boylston Street also is included in the proposed Fenway National
Register and Landmark district.
12. Museum of Fine Arts
65 Huntington Avenue. Guy Lowell, architect. 1907-28. (Maps 21N/9E and
22N/9E) (F/K 524)
Located between Huntington Avenue and the Fenway, between Museum Road and
Forsyth Way - the landscaped entry to the Back Bay Fens, the Museum of Fine
Arts qualifies as an architecturally distinguished example of a large scale
Neo-Classical architecture, as a major work of a prominent architect, and as
the home of a cultural institution of major significance to the city,
commonwealth. New England region and the nation. (The Museum of Fine Arts
also i? included in the proposed Fenway National Register and Landmark
District).
13. New England Conservatory of Music.
290 Huntington Avenue and 30 Gainsborough. Wheelwright and Haven,
architects. 1901-03. (Map 22N/10E) (F/K 522)
Already included in the National Register, the Renaissance Revival New
England Conservatory of Music qualifies for Boston Landmark status as an
important work of a prominent local architect and as the home of a cultural
institution of local, religious and national significance. Established in
1867, the New England Conservatory is of additional significance as the oldest
independent conservatory of music in the U.S. Since its foundings, New
58
England Conservatory faculty and students have made significant contributions
to the city, region, and nation in music performance and education.
Designation of Jordan Hall as an interior landmark is also recommended.
The New England Conservatory of Music also falls into the proposed
Symphony National Register and Landmark disrtict.
14. Symphony Hall
301 Massachusetts Avenue and 249 Huntington Avenue. McKim, Mead, and
White, architects 1899-1900. (Map 22N/10E) (F/K 537)
Included in the National Register, Symphony Hall merits recognition as a
Boston Landmark as the home of a cultural institution of considerable local,
regional, national and international significance and as a prominently sited,
major work of a nationally important architectural firm, and for its intact
auditorium which continues to enjoy international recognition for the
excellence of its accoustics.
Specific designation of the interior of the auditorium is also
recommended .
Symphony Hall also is included in the proposed Symphony National Register
and Landmark District.
15. YMCA
r
312-320 Huntington Avenue. Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, architects.
1911-13. (Map 22N/10E) (F/K 523)
Considered eligible as a major work by an important architectural firm,
as a large scale and handsome example of the Tapestry Brick Style, as the home
of an important educational and social service institution and as the "home
office" of the first "Y" branch to be organized in U.S.
(The YMCA is included in the proposed Symphony National Register and
Landmark District).
59
Meeting criteria for National Register listing only
Residential
16. Hastings Houses
2 Shart Street, (ca. 1875). (Map 22N-8E) (F/K 81).
4 Short Street, (ca. 1855). (Map 22N-8E) (F/K 82).
Considered eligible as significant intact examples, the only ones
remaining, of the frame residences which formed the 19th century neighborhood
along Short Street, Pilgrim Road, and Brookline Avenue northeast of Short
Street. The early Italianate style dwelling at 4 Short Street has a 3-bay
fomt facade, side gables, corner pilaters, and bracketed cornices. Now
around the comer from its original site, the house was purchased by Bulkey A.
Hastings, a Boston butter and cheese merchant, in 1868 and remained (except
for 1876-1877) in Hastings family ownership until acquired by Simmons Female
College in 1904. 2 Short Street, later Italianate in style, features a 3-bay
front with central entry and porch, a hipped slate roof, bracketed cornice,
and bay windows. It was the residence of Bulkey Hastings' son Francis and
wife Mary C. (Hews) Hastings. Both houses are now part of Simmons College's
residential campus.
17. Moorfield and Gertrude Storey House
24 The Fenway. Peabody and Stearns, architects. 1900. (Map 23N/10E)
(F/K 18)
Considered eligible as an architecturally notable Federal Revival
residence designed by an important architectural firm and located within the
Fenway frontage near Boylston Street. #24 The Fenway is of particular interest
as the residence of civil rights lawyer Moorfield Storey from 1900 until his
death in 1929. He is best known for his successful efforts during the 1910 's
to gain Supreme Court enforcement of the 15th amendment.
(#24 The Fenway also is included in the proposed Fenway National Register
and Landmark District) .
60
18. Robert Treat Paine, Jr. House
1 Queensberry St. at Park Drive. 1899-1901. Charles K. Cummlngs,
architect. (Map 22N-9E) (F 65)
Considered eligible as a substantial, well-designed brick Georgian
Revival mansion which is the oldest building in the West Fens. Constructed
for attorney Robert Treat Paine, Jr. The house is a reminder that Park Drive
was originally slated for development with substantial, stylish townhouses
similar to those on The Fenway east of the Back Bay Fens. From 1914-1935, the
house was owned by the Boston Vedanta Center.
Churches
19. Church of Disciples
105 Jersey Street, corner of Peterborough. James Purdon, architect.
1905. (Map 22N/9E) (F 540). ■
Qualifies as an architecturally significant example of early 20th century
Classical Revival design. Its architect was Harvard University Club
Specialist James Purdon. The Church of the Disciples was organized in 1841 on
Beacon Hill by James Freeman Clark. Overtime it occupied several buildings in
the South End before a West Fens site was chosen in 1904. This red brick,
white cast stone and marble faced edifice is one of the oldest structures in
the West Fens. It is presently owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Chuch and
School.
20. St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church
77 St. Stephen Street. Rotch and Tilden, architects. 1890-92. (Map
22N/10E) (F/K 547).
^ Considered eligible as an intact example of a late Victorian Gothic
church designed by a prominent Boston architectural firm. Through its
conversion from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Messiah to its present
use as a Roman Catholic Church, St. Ann's is of additional interest as a
indicator of socio-economic change in the Fenway area.
61
21 . St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church
20 Belvidere Street and 30 St. Cecilia Street. Charles J. Bateman,
architect. 1888-1892. (Map 23N/10E) (F/K 503).
Qualifies as a work of an important designer of Roman Catholic churches
and institutions in the Boston area, as a notable example of Romanesque
Revival church architecture, and as the first Roman Catholic church to be built
in the Back Bay and Fenway districts.
22. St. Clements Roman Catholic Church
1103 Boylston Street. Allen and Collens, architects. 1923-24. (Map
23N/10E) (F/K 506).
Qualifies as a notable example of Modern Gothic church architecture and
as a work of a major firm known for its religious and institutional
buildings. St. Clement's Catholic Church originally was built as the
Universalist Church of the Redemption.
(St. Clements also is included in the proposed Fenway National Register
and Landmark Districts).
Commercial
23. Sears Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store
309 Park Drive. Nimmons, Carr and Wright. 1928. (Map 22N/9E) (F 411).
Qualifies as a fine, early, and locally rare example of the Art Deco
style in Boston. The tower of this light grey brick and Indiana limestone
faced building is the most prominent landmark in the West Fens. It was
designed by the Chicago based architectural firm of Nimmons, Carr and Wright.
This firm was responsible for a number of Sears Roebuck regional mail order
houses during the 1910 's and 1920' s.
62
Institutional
24. Berklee College of Music
1138 Boylston Street. Arthur H. Bowditch, architect. 1901-02. (Map
23N/10E) (F/K 504).
Built originally as the Carlton Hotel, #1138 Boylston Street is considered
eligible as an architecturally distinguished and intact large-scale example of
the Beaux-Arts style which in Boston often includes a heavy overlay of
Georgian Revival detailing and forms.
(Also included in the proposed Fenway National Register and Landmark
District)
25. Boston Conservatory of Music
8 The Fenway. Shaw and Hunnewell, architect. 1899-1901. (Map 23N/10E)
(F/K 511).
Qualifies as an architecturally significant building retaining much of
its original appearance and its handsome wood panelled Georgian Revival second
floor library. Designed by a prominent firm, 8 The Fenway is of further
significance through its long association with the growth and development of
the city's medical establishment.
(8 The Fenway also is included in the proposed Fenway National Register
and Landmark District) .
26. Boston Lying-in Hospital.
221 Longwood Ave. Coolidge and Shattuck, architects. 1921-1922. (Maps
21N-8E and 21N-9E) (F/K 531)
This tan brick Mediterranean Revival institutional building qualifies for
its historic importance as the home of the Boston Lying-in Hospital from 1923
to 1981. The hospital was founded in 1832 for poor women in labor, and in
1847 was the site of the first use of anesthesia in a U.S. maternity
hospital. The architectural firm of Coolidge and Shattuck received the city's
Harleston Parker Gold Medal for their design of the Lying-in.
I
27. Boston Public Latin High School
78 Avenue Louis Pasteur. 1922. James E. McLaughlin, architect. (Map
21N-9E) (F/K 533).
This Georgian Revival brick school Is considered eligible as the present
home of Boston's Public Latin School, the oldest public school in the United
States, founded in 1635. Many Bostonians who gained national prominence in
political and civic affairs have been alumni of the city's Public Latin
School, which has been housed in a succession of homes and school" buildings
since its beginning.
28. Boston University Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue. Williams Beal Sons, architects 1924-25. (Map
22N/10E) (F/K 521).
Considered eligible as an architecturally significant Georgian Revival
theatre located in the immediate vicinity of several of Boston's cultural
landmarks (Symphony Hall, New England Conservatory, Horticultural Hall) and
originally built as the permanent home for the Jewett Repertory Theatre.
29. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, (original buildings which face Brigham
Circle)
721 Huntington Ave. Codman and Despradelle, architects. 1911-1913.
(Map 21N-8E) (F/K 525)
Considered eligible as an architecturally notable Classical Revival
institutional building with historic significance as the original home of the
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, which opened in 1913 and was founded to provide
medical care for the poor of Suffolk County. The Hospital has been a teaching
facility of Harvard Medical School throughout Its history. The first
successful kidney transplant occured here.
64
30. The Cotting School for Handicapped Children
241 St. Botolph Street. Peabody and Stearns, architects. 1903.
Addition: -Stone and Webster Co., architects. 1926. (Map 22N/10E)
(F/K 546).
Qualifies as an architecturally notable institutional building of
considerable historical importance for its continuing use as the first school
for handicapped children in the U.S. The Cotting School was designed by the
prominent architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns and remains an intact
example of their institutional work.
(The Cotting School is included in the proposed Symphony National
Register and Landmark District).
31. Massachusetts College of Art
364 Brookline Avenue. . (1929-1930). Henry and Richmond, architects.
(Map 22N-8E) (F/K 507). .
Qualifies as a distinctive school building exhibiting an interesting
blend of Art Deco and Modern Gothic architectural elements. Since 1930 the
building has housed the Massachusetts College of Art, for which it was built.
The college which was founded in 1873 as the Massachusetts Normal Art School,
remains the only state-supported autonomous art school in the country. The
original purpose was to train art teachers for the public schools, and it has
since expanded its programs to meet other artistic needs of the Commonwealth,
in such areas as industry and advertising.
32. School of the Museum of Fine Arts
230 The Fenway. Guy Lowell, architect. 1926-27. (Map 22N/9E) (F/K
513).
Considered eligible as an architecturally notable Georgian Revival
building and one of the last designs of the designer and architect Guy Lowell.
#230 The Fenway is of cultural importance through its association with an art
museum of international reputation and as a teaching institution in the visual
65
arts whose staff has included regionally influential painters, sculptors, and
architects.
(#230 The Fenway is included in the proposed Fenway "National Register and
Landmark District) .
33. Thomas Morgan Rotch, Jr. Memorial Hospital for Infants
5 Shattuck Street. 1910 (begun). Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge,
architects. (Map 21N-8E) (F/K 548).
Qualifies as a fine example of Classical Revival architecture by Boston's
prominent architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, who were
responsible for several substantial buildings in the Fenway /Longwood area.
This white marble-clad structure with its monumental Ionic portico was
designed to coordinate with the Harvard Medical School buildings nearby. It
was built for the Rotch Memorial Hospital for Infants, which was incorporated
in 1881 as the West-End Nursery and Infants' Hospital. Founded in response to
the needs of the poor in crowded tenement housing conditions, its purposes
were to provide medical care for infants and to educate mothers in infant care
and artificial feeding. The hospital was located at 55 Shattuck Street during
the years 1914-1923.
34. Simmons College (main building)
300 The Fenway. 1901-1904. Peabody and Stearns, architects. (Map
22N-9E) (F/K 515).
Considered eligible as the work of Boston's distinguished architectural
firm of Peabody and Steams, this brick Classical Revival institutional
building was the first of Simmons College's structures put up in its Fenway
campus. Simmons Female College was incorporated in 1899 and founded through
the bequest of John Simmons (1796-1870), whose wealth had been made in
Boston's clothing industry. The curriculum of the College combined academic
and vocational courses from its beginning in an attempt to "enable the
scholars to acquire an independent livelihood" as Simmons had specified in his
will. Simmons College's main building is prominently sited facing the Back
Bay Fens.
66
(300 The Fenway is also included in the recommended Southwest Fenway
District).
Special Use Structures
35. Fenway Park
24 Yawkey Way. 1912; 1934. (Map 23N-9E) (F/K 911)
Qualifies for its considerable importance in sports history as the home
stadium of the Boston Red Sox baseball team since its opening in 1912. Fenway
Park is the major leagues' second oldest stadiiom, and its only remaining
single-deck stadium. The original Tapestry Brick style entrance facade and
stadium perimeter remain.
36. New Riding Club
52 Hemenway Street. Willard T. Sears, architect. 1891-92. (Map
23N/10E) (F/K 518).
Considered eligible as an architecturally significant and stylistically
distictive Jacobethan building designed by a notable Boston architect. The
New Riding Club is of further interest for its use as a stable for urban
residents in the developing new neighborhood in the vicinity of the Back Bay
Fens.
37. Riding School
145-151 Ipswich Street. Wheelwright and Haven, architects. 1900. (Map
23N/9E) (F 407).
Considered eligible as a rare surviving example of a Back Bay Fens riding
school, built for well-to-do Boston real estate speculator Eban Jordan, in
1900. It was designed in the Queen Anne/Classical revival style by the
prominet Boston architectural firm of Wheelwright and Haven. This firm was
responsible for a number of important Fenway institutions including
Horticultural Hall (1903), The New England Conservatory of Music (1903) and
Jordan Hall. This red brick building served as a riding school until at least
the early 1920' s.
67
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FEN
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Recommended for Further Study
1. Farragut School.
10 Fenwood Rd. Wheelwright and Haven, architects. 1903. (Map 21N-8E)
(F/K 517)
An architecturally notable example of a Georgian Revival school, designed
by Boston's prominent firm of Wheelwright and Haven. The experimental
ell-shape plan attempted to exclude sunlight from classrooms to benefit
students' eyes.
2. Girls' Latin School and Normal School
(now part of Roxbury Community College). Palace Road, Tetlow Street, and
Huntington Avenue. 1906-1907. Peabody and Stearns; Maginnis, Walsh and
Sullivan; Coolidge and Carlson, architects. (Map 21N-9E) (F/K 538).
This grouping of notable red brick school buildings with terra cotta trim
is Beaux-Arts in design, and is now partially obscured by later buildings and
additions of the Roxbury Community College and relocated Massachusetts College
of Art. Prominent Boston architects were chosen by the city to design the
formal group which originally formed a prominent landmark along Huntington
Avenue .
Further research is needed on the history of the schools and the intactness of
the original building complex.
3. Martin Millmore School.
85 Peterborough St. George E. Robinson, architect. 1929. (Map 22N-9E)
(F/K 540A)
A notable example of Georgian Revival institutional design, named for
mid-late 19th century Boston area sculptor Martin Milmore.
68
4. Richardson Building
5-15 Jersey Street, 76-88 Brookline Avenue. 1916 (Map 23N/9E) (F 408).
Considered eligible as a well designed and preserved example of an early
20th century Classical revival Kenmore Square commercial building. Its
severly Classical Revival facades are faced with white terra cotta.
Particularly noteworthy are the monumental, fluted and engaged Tuscan columns
which flank the main entrance. Designed in 1916 by Boston architects Monks
and Johnson, it was dedicated in 1920 to the memory of George Lincoln
Richardson, a soldier in W.W.I who was killed at Verdum, France in 1918.
5. Winsor School
103 Pilgrim Road. 1909-1910. R. Clipston Sturgis, architect. (Map
22N-8E) (F/K 543).
Housed in a handsome Modern Gothic style red brick school building, the
Winsor School deserves further study for its relative importance in Boston's
educational facilities. The predecessor to this private girls' college
preparatory day school was founded in 1886 by Mrs. Francis Brooks, and was
taken over by Mary Pickard Winsor the next year.
69
APPENDIX I
BOSTON LANDMARKS COMMISSION Building Inforraatioa Form Form No.55<Area t^kiKlAv/
ADDRESS30^ M>^AcHl^Qt;r COR .
NAME .<r^^^P4i^^\\JUA,l
present original
MAP No.s^^|/^^. • SUB AR£A^,rr-f=?=h).^
source v/o^ \}ci, KJClD^H^)
source
I^ER i^'iTTrTv)u\giVp.>M rm^
present
original
TOGRAPHS F^^)j,^JL. (J^Jf- -R^
TYPE (residential) single double row 2-fam.
(non-residential) A^E^m?ill^.^
3-deck ten apt.
NO. OF STORIES (1st to cornice) ^tAmrfe-stazv") A^to
.OOF
<S^-8tSH V^Wf. ■R/fT/^S'/ceS'
cupola
P■'■^S /^K^,C Av.^/^:|=rTglHiN.;:)gL
dormers
MATERIALS (Frame) clapboards shingles stucco asphalt asbestos alum/vinyl
D +V, (0ther)c£fI2S: zsD 4¥Sne ?>^t*.«PTyiM . . goncrejie iron/steel/alum. . ^^ „ ^
Rather austere Renaissance Revival Ijaaxl^ca-pjan concert nali with 9-t)ay
BRIEF DESCRIPTION iiSB?fJ°§d^R6e 5^81^1^11" ?i|g^^ihl!2E3^%S%?? ill^t iH
monumental doublerstory limes tone, Ionic .columns supporting a classical
enta.Dlg.ture,?.nd with extended attic exhibiting stone-trimmed pediment
enclosing blind round window. Marble medallions gjid plaques enriQh facade
and are used over entry doors of porch and, at attic .,. Long. symetrical, 9-
bay Mass. Av? . fro^t includes /-bay central section displaying 1st floor
wall arches :;ncluding paired rectangular windows set below lunettes and
full-story limestone trimmed central arched entry with lyre and garland
EXTERIOR ALTERATION minor moderate drastic Iceystone.
CONDITION good fair poor
_LOT AR£A3'A,(V,jf
sq. feet
NOTEVORTHY SITE CHARACTERISTICS On large \isually prominent corner lot at crossing
of two major Boston thoroughfares . Opposite on Mass . Ave . is h.orxicuitural
Hall (see form for). Just west and across Huntington from the New Snglad
Conservatory of Music (see form for)- Huntington entrace races wj:^a roaaway
underpass. SIGNIFICANCE (cont'd on reverse)
Symphony Hall is a significant work of a
nationally prominent architectural firm,
is the home of the Boston Symphony
^ P^ Orchestra — a cultural institution of major
importance to the city, state, region, and
nation, and remains internationally renown
I,
Tf Visa-
Moved; date if kno
wn
Themes (check as many as applicable)
Aboriginal
Agricultural
Architectural
The Arts
Commerce
Communication
Community/
development
Conservation
Education
Exploration/
settlement
Indus'try
Military
Political
Recreation
Religion
Science/
invention
Social/
humanitarian
Transportation
Significance (include explanation of themes checked above)
for its accoustical excellence.
This architecturaJlt^ distinguished building, with Horticultural Hall
its neighbor across Mass . Ave ., serves as part of a landmark gateway
into the Back Bay/Fenway areas .
(for- additional information:
Register Nomination Form) .
see Symphony Hall National
Preservation Consideration (accessibility, re-use possibilities, capacity
tor public use and enjoyment, protection, utilities, context)
On the National Register. Recommended for additional protection
as a Boston Landmark. Also included in the Symphony Hall National
Register and Boston Landmark District.
Interior of Symphony Hall qualifies for Boston Landmark status.
Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories
records, early maps, etc.)
deeds, assessor's
30ST0NGTJ3SS. MAiasU 23, iqrin AimdL& O^ SV/MfH-C^VHrAO- St5ntiAf2V(fFr/s}eA?n^Tb€^)
APPENDIX I
BOSTON LAM3MARKS COMMISSION Building Infonnatioa Form Form No.J^^Area -P^i^^j^v^
ADDRESS ^^/^35!TrLPMSTBgg=^ CSJl . KJaag. AMSi<cwS^r«- AvgMUg-
NAME A4A*jt>/cAff^cuia:!gsjsj Amr •peaflMaa cu)'LD(z.aj
present original
No. ^LZJ^in^^ SUB AREA
ATE /^(D3 AKJP l^zio 3u</^\6-psaMh-^
source
cHiiECT yj-ss::;.^:^';. -^^^^^^^^^^^
source
IILDER iqTj„ . m,^ ^ KW»i.:t^:^^j, . BJ/U^ IK]5- I^RKtts-
source
orxgmal present
present
:GT0GRAPHS f^KyAW^ .^?^ 4^^ ^a^
TYPE (residential) single " double row 2-fain.
(non-residential) StHnt^L-
3-deck ten apt.
NO. OF STORIES (1st to cornice) _S
•OOF -R5»f cupola
plus •nX^snyt-VgAsaMgqr-
dormers ' : — ■
MATERIALS (Frame) clapboards
(Other) brick ^;j»
shingles stucco
stoiie TT^M
asphalt asbestos alum/vinyl
concrete iron/steel/alum.
iJKiJii UhbLKirTION z-i-saVps^cacc. -ri.MT-i>i.s*MK^ "mJ a3«^<:Al_-U^l*sttD^i^-^^|^uu«diCL*,trla^a
moderate drastic
EXTERIOR ALTERATION
CONDITION (goo^ fair poor
NOTEWORTHY SITE CHARACTERISTICS
of Northeastern U. (formerly Boston Arena) . ^__ ^_^
Attached at left, single-story -plus "basement hip-ped roofed squarish- pi an
bui Iding with copper trimmed pinnacled cupola with weather vane and copper
_LOT AREA JS/=^ p>^^
2ry large lot ocfci
sq. feet
On very large lot oc'cupying all of frontage
"between service alleys . Across from Mathews Are]
Lot slopes off steeply to rear.
frieze dated 1912. 7' "brick
wall along left street
frontage; fencing with iron
pickets along right section.
(Map)
SIGNIFICANCE (cont'd on reverse)
Architecturally nota"ble institutional "building
of considerable historical importance as the
continuing home of the first school for handi-
capped children in the United States. The
Getting School was designed by the prominent
Boston architectural firm of Peabody and
Stearns and remains as an intact example
TT
T?PV/^
Moved; date if known
Themes (check as many
Aboriginal
as applicable)
Conservation
Recreation
Religion
Science/
invention
Social/
humanitarian
Transportation
•ked above)
Agricultural
Education
X
Architectural x
The Arts
Exploration/
settlement
>x
Commerce
Industry
Communication
Military
X
Community/
Political _
explanation of themes
development
chec
Significance (include
^■
of their institutional work.
Founded In 189^, the Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed
Children, as it was then called, was initiated and supported
entirely through donation and charitable fund-raising » and.,
began with 2^ "scholar-patients" who were brought by bus to St.
Andrews Hall on Chambers Street in the old West End. Soon after-
wards, as the need to offer board and lodging for pupils increaseo
a row-house at 6 Turner Street (see 'form for 12-30 Edgerly Road)
was rented to provide space for the school. Subjects taught at this f
time included sewing, crochet, drawing, woodcarving ("for boys
only"), physical culture, and kitchen gardening.
Francis J. Cotting, one of the original trustees of the Industrial
School, was from, around the turn- of- the-c entry to the time of
his death in 191^ at age ^8, president of the institution, and
as a physically handicapped person, was committed to- instruction
at the school of practical and commercially valuable trades.
By the time the school's- home was built on St. Botolph Street
(opening reception — December 1, 1904),. courses in a variety of
handicrafts and trades were being offered and' a print shop — see p)
Preservation Consideration (accessibility, re-use possibilities, capacity
for public use and enjoyment, protection, utilities, context)
Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's
records, early maps, etc.)
SOrrO*^ BUI Li>'( nJ5. is^pr. TZien^jeDr .
2^'l St. Botolph Street
Getting School
page 2 .
Significance continued;
that filled over ^00 orders for individuals outside of the
school was in operation. The staff smd trustees of the Industrial
School developed a curriculum and school-day that provided
study, industrial trades, exercise, good nutrition, fresh-air
and light, and medical treatment. In 1912, a fresh-air class-
room was "built, and children studied in a small building with
open sides. This structure was moved to make way for the 1926
addition but remains on-site (although now closed-in) and
is attached to the left side of the school.
A sizeable addition quite similar in style and treatment to
the earlier building was completed in 1926, and the old school
became the classroom building, and the new was used for
industrial training. ' The school's enrollment was at this time
108 students, and 8 grades of elementary work, 3 years of
high school, plus industrial work including printing, lino-
type operation, stenography, typewriting, and office practice
were available. Today, the Getting School provides a full
academic program, approved by the Boston School System,
as well as medical support and vocational training for students
in grades 1 through 12. ■ All pupil services are provided through
scholarship assistance and city/town payments, and there is no
direct cost to parent or student. In 1981-2, the Getting
School served 122 children from ^7 cities and towns in the
Greater Boston Area.
Robert Swain Peabody (18^4-5-1917) and John Goddard Stearns (18^3-
1917) » the architects of the Getting School, enjoyed an extensive
practice which lasted for ^0 years. The firm was of major
importance from the l87G's through the 1910 's and was known for
its school, public, insltutional, commercial, and residential
desi.gns. Their work included Mathews Hall and the old Hemenway
Gym at Harvard; the Boston and Providence Railroad Station
formerly in Park Square; the Exchange, Gunard, and India
Buildings on Boston's State Street; the Hotel Bellevue at 19-
25 Beacon Street, and numerous residences in Back Bay. Peabody
and Stearrswere the architects of the Dorchester Heights monu-
ment in South Boston and the Ci^om House Tower, and in the
Fenway area, were responsible for the Queen Anne/Georgian
Revival row at 37-57 St. Stephen, the Georgian Revival row at
38-56 St. Stephen, and the townhouses at 22, 2^, 26 The Fenway,
and Simmons College at 300 The Fenway (19Q1-4-) (see forms for).
AJr'i'ENDIX II
Key to 100' Scale Inventory Maps
APPENDIX III
Histaric Inventory Mao Coding System - Boston
City is divided into the following districts, note abbreviations.
A capital letter or pair will always precede a number for coding.
EB
East Boston
SB
C
Chart estown
JP
N/W
North End/Waterfront
R
BB
Back Bay
D
BH
Beacon Hill
RD
SC
Bay Village/Chinatown
WR
FK
Fenway/Kenmore
HP
AS
Allston/Brighton
GC
NIH
Mission Kill
WE
S£
South End
CBD
South Boston
Jamaica Plain
Roxbury
Dorchester
Rosiindale
West Roxbury
Hyde Park
Government Center/North Station
West End
Central Business District
2. Numerical system is divided into the following use categories.
(MHC code is the underlying structure here with additional break-
downs to deal with the large number of structures in the City).
Buildings 1-799
Further broken down into:
Residential 1-399
(including all types of residential structures, apartments,
out buildings, such as carnage houses, barns, stables,
and garages)
Commercial 400-499
(Including retail, office, bank, gas stations, fast food,
auto repair, super markets, shopping center, hotel, theatre,
combined commercial/residential )
Institutional 500-699
(Including church, school, municipal, hospital, nursing
home, club, R.R. station, civic, stadium)
Manufacturing 700-799
including manufacturing, lofts, factory warehouse, mill
Cemetary 800-899
Structures, Parks, Monuments, Markers 900-999
(Including bridge, canal, dam, tunnel, road/path, windmill,
fort, standpipe, marker/tablet, statue, fountain, milestone,
parks, benches, training fields, clocks)
Streetscapes 1000-X
3. Example of how to use system
D159 - reflects a residential structure in Dorchester
H900 - reflects a bridge in Hyde Park
H371 - reflects a commercial structure in Hyde Park
Color #
Colonial
(1-30-1775)
Federal
(1790-1830)
Greek Revival
(1830-1855)
Gothic Revival
(1840-1850)
Italianate
(1845-1885)
High Victorian
Gothic
(1860-1890)
Mansard
(1860-1890)
Stick Style
(1870-1880)
Queen Anne
(1870-1900)
Romanesque
Revival
(1875-1895
Shingle Style
(1880-1900)
Renaissance
Revival
(1885-1930)
Victorian/ Industrial
Commercial Style
11885-1905)
?S18
#930
#931
l#qiq
1 1 #904
1 l#Qnfi
!#933
#qn
' '#°07
1 l#cinQ
'#Q13
1 I#qi4
1 I#qi7
Chateauesque/
Norman
(1890-1905)
Beaux Arts
(1890-1915)
Georgian or
Colonial Revival
(1890-1930)
Federal Revival
(1900-1920) T
Modern Gothic
(1890-1940)
Jacobethan
(1895-1930)
Classical
Revival
(1895-1930)
Mediterranean/
Mission
(1900-1930)
Bungalow
(1900-1930
Early 20th Century Commercial
Tapestry Brick
(1910-1940)
Art Deco/
Moderne
(1925-1940)
International
I #916
#941
#917
#942
I #945
Style/Modern
(1927-
\#°^?
#Q47
1 l#Q27
1
iQ-?Q
I#q3f5
1 l#Q36
#qfi-5;
. #964.
Contemporary
Suburban
' '#
(1940-
Residential
Ins
titutional
Building Materials
unmarked, single family
Ch:
church
(b)
brick
2F: two family
Sc:
school
(s)
stone
3D: triple decker
Mp:
municipal
(so)
stucco
A: apartment
(police, fire.
• (m)
metal
Gar: garage
library, etc.)
(CO)
concrete
Barn: stable or
H:
hospital , nursing
(gi)
glass
carnage
Cb:
home
club
Commercial
Man
ufacturing
VAC:
vacant
Rl: retail store
M:
manufacturing
(1-2 stories)
W:
warehouse
////
drastically
0 : office, bank
altered
CITY OF BOSTON
RAYMOND L. FLYNN, MAYOR
BOSTON LANDMARKS COMMISSION
MEMBERS
Pauline Chase Harrell, Chairwoman
Lawrence A. Bianchi
Libby Blank
James Alexander
Susan S. Davis
Thomas J. Hynes, Jr.-
Henry A. Wood
ALTERNATES
Roger P. Lang, Vice Chairman
Virginia Aldrich
Stanford 0. Anderson
John F. Cooke
Joan E. Goody
Rosalind E. Gorin
Imre Halasz
Carl A. Zellner
Marcia Myers, Executive Director
Judith B. McDonough, Survey Director
Paula Mierzejewskl, Administrative Assistant
BOSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Robert L. Farrell, Chairman
Joseph J. Walsh, Vice Chairman
James K. Flaherty, Treasurer
Clarence J. Jones, Member
William A. McDermott, Jr., Member
Kane Simonian, Secretary
Stephen Coyle, Director
',.6 80
I
Live Music
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Internet
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9/11